Positive Aspects of Emotional Competence in Preventing Internalizing Symptoms in Children with and without Developmental Language Disorder: A Longitudinal Approach.
Andrea C Samson, Neeltje P van den Bedem, Daniel Dukes and 1 others
PMID 31907729WHAT IT FOUND
Children with and without language disorder showed fewer anxiety and somatic complaints when they understood emotions, focused less on bodily sensations, and communicated feelings well.
These protective factors operated similarly in both groups, suggesting emotion-focused support benefits children with DLD as much as their peers.
Key findings
01Higher levels of happiness, emotion understanding, and bodily unawareness were linked to lower somatic complaints and social anxiety in both children with and without DLD.
02Difficulties communicating about emotions predicted more somatic complaints in both groups, even after controlling for emotion awareness and happiness.
03For social anxiety in children with DLD, communication severity was no longer predictive once emotion awareness was accounted for.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
Communication and emotion communication variables were measured only at one time point, preventing analysis of how changes in these skills affect internalizing symptoms over time. Internalizing symptoms and emotion awareness were primarily child-reported, which may introduce common method bias. The wide age range (9-16 years) may mask developmental changes in how these mechanisms operate. The internal consistency for the bodily awareness scale was low in the DLD group, requiring caution in interpreting findings related to this specific construct.
Declared interests
The study was funded by Fonds NutsOhra (NL). No other conflicts of interest are reported.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that improving general language structure (syntax, phonology) will directly reduce anxiety or somatic complaints. The study found that the ability to communicate about emotions and emotion awareness were the significant protective factors, not the severity of structural language problems.