Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, London, UK.
Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, London, UK.
J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2017 Oct;58(10):1092-1105. doi: 10.1111/jcpp.12793.
Language development has been characterised by significant individual stability from school entry. However, the extent to which trajectories of language growth vary in children with language disorder as a function of co-occurring developmental challenges is a question of theoretical import, with implications for service provision.
SCALES employed a population-based survey design with sample weighting procedures to estimate growth in core language skills over the first three years of school. A stratified sample (n = 529) received comprehensive assessment of language, nonverbal IQ, and social, emotional and behavioural difficulties at 5-6 years of age and 95% of the sample (n = 499) were assessed again at ages 7-8. Language growth was measured using both raw and standard scores in children with typical development, children with language disorder of unknown origin, and children with language disorders associated with a known clinical condition and/or intellectual disability.
Overall, language was stable at the individual level (estimated ICC = 0.95) over the first three years of school. Linear mixed effects models highlighted steady growth in language raw scores across all three groups, including those with multiple developmental challenges. There was little evidence, however, that children with language disorders were narrowing the gap with peers (z-scores). Adjusted models indicated that while nonverbal ability, socioeconomic status and social, emotional and behavioural deficits predicted initial language score (intercept), none predicted language growth (slope).
These findings corroborate previous studies suggesting stable language trajectories after ages 5-6 years, but add considerably to previous work by demonstrating similar developmental patterns in children with additional nonverbal cognitive deficits, social, emotional, and behavioural challenges, social disadvantage or clinical diagnoses.
从入学开始，语言发展就具有显著的个体稳定性。然而，语言障碍儿童的语言增长轨迹在多大程度上因共同存在的发育挑战而有所不同，这是一个具有理论意义的问题，对服务提供有影响。
SCALES 采用基于人群的调查设计和样本加权程序，以估计核心语言技能在入学后的头三年中的增长情况。分层样本（n=529）在 5-6 岁时接受了语言、非言语智商以及社会、情感和行为困难的全面评估，95%的样本（n=499）在 7-8 岁时再次接受评估。在典型发育的儿童、原因不明的语言障碍儿童以及与已知临床病症和/或智力障碍相关的语言障碍儿童中，使用原始分数和标准分数来衡量语言增长。
总体而言，在入学后的头三年中，语言在个体水平上是稳定的（估计 ICC=0.95）。线性混合效应模型突出显示，所有三组儿童的语言原始分数都在稳步增长，包括那些存在多种发育挑战的儿童。然而，几乎没有证据表明语言障碍儿童正在缩小与同龄人之间的差距（z 分数）。调整后的模型表明，虽然非言语能力、社会经济地位以及社会、情感和行为缺陷预测了初始语言得分（截距），但没有任何因素预测语言增长（斜率）。
这些发现与之前的研究结果相符，即 5-6 岁后语言轨迹稳定，但通过表明在存在额外的非言语认知缺陷、社会、情感和行为挑战、社会劣势或临床诊断的儿童中存在类似的发育模式，这些发现极大地补充了之前的研究工作。
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