Behavioral, Emotional and School Adjustment in Adolescents with and without Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) Is Related to Family Involvement.
Developmental language disorder (DLD) refers to a language delay in the absence of other underlying causes. Individuals with DLD can also present other problems related to behavioral, scholarly, and emotional aspects of their daily lives because of their language difficulties. Moreover, these difficulties could be influenced by family and socioeconomic characteristics. Twenty-eight bilingual adolescents with and without DLD in typical schools were followed from childhood to adolescence. At age five, language and cognitive variables were assessed. In addition, language, behavior, emotional and school adjustment, and socioeconomic and family aspects were evaluated at age 12. Results reveal that adolescents with DLD show poorer school adjustment and less adaptive skills when evaluated by their tutors, and a larger index of emotional problems when self-assessed. Moreover, family involvement, but not socioeconomic status (SES), emerged as a protective factor since it was related to behavioral, emotional, and school adjustment, a result that was further confirmed by structural equation modeling. Therefore, a more global approach involving individuals, schools and families is needed to provide adolescents with DLD adequate support. It is important to stimulate their social skills and emotional adjustment so they can cope with social difficulties more easily, especially at school.
['Valera-Pozo|Mario|M|', 'Adrover-Roig|Daniel|D|', 'Pérez-Castelló|Josep A|JA|', 'Sanchez-Azanza|Victor A|VA|', 'Aguilar-Mediavilla|Eva|E|']
D000076363:Academic Success D000293:Adolescent D002648:Child D002675:Child, Preschool D004644:Emotions D005192:Family Health D005260:Female D006801:Humans D007805:Language Development Disorders D008137:Longitudinal Studies D008297:Male D012574:Schools D012917:Social Adjustment
family involvement language delay mental health school adaptation specific language impairment