A longitudinal study of behavioural, emotional and social difficulties in individuals with a history of specific language impairment (SLI)

Children with specific language impairment (SLI) have often been reported to have
associated behavioral, emotional and social difficulties. Most previous studies involve
observations at a single time point, or cross sectional designs, and longitudinal evidence of
the developmental trajectories of particular difficulties is limited. The Strengths and
Difficulties Questionnaire was used to measure behavioral (hyperactivity and conduct),
emotional and social (peer) problems in a sample of individuals with a history of SLI at four
time points from childhood (age 7) to adolescence (age 16). A decrease in behavioral and
emotional problems was observed from childhood to adolescence, although emotional
problems were still evident in adolescence. In contrast, there was an increase in social
problems. Reading skills and expressive language were related only to behavioral
problems. Pragmatic abilities were related to behavioral, emotional and social difficulties.
As a group, those with a history of SLI have poorer long term social and, to a lesser extent,
emotional outcomes. In contrast, behavioral difficulties appear to decrease to normative
levels by adolescence. Different aspects of early language abilities and reading skills exert
different types and degrees of influence on behavioral, emotional and social difficulties.