Department of Psychology, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Owerko Centre, Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, Calgary, Canada.
Am J Speech Lang Pathol. 2024 Jan 3;33(1):505-526. doi: 10.1044/2023_AJSLP-22-00406. Epub 2023 Nov 20.
This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to examine the association between language skills and social competence in children with developmental language disorder (DLD) and to assess the potential moderators of these associations.
The study was reported using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Studies were identified according to a search strategy carried out in PsycINFO, MEDLINE, Scopus, Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts, and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global databases. A total of 15,069 articles were independently double screened in the title and abstract phases, with 250 articles proceeding to a full-text review. Inclusion criteria comprised (a) a sample of children with DLD between the ages of 2 and 12 years, (b) a language measure, (c) a social competence measure, and (d) an appropriate statistic. Exclusion criteria were (a) intervention studies with no baseline data, (b) language measures based on preverbal abilities, (c) samples of children with DLD and other clinical conditions, and (d) studies without useable statistics. Data were extracted from 21 studies that met the eligibility criteria for the meta-analysis.
Pooled estimates across 21 studies ( = 7.52 years; 64% male) and 6,830 children indicated a significant association between language skills and social competence in children with DLD ( = .18, 95% confidence interval [.12, .24], < .001), which was small in magnitude. The effect sizes were stronger in studies that assessed overall language skills than in those that specifically measured receptive or expressive language skills.
Findings from this study support a subtle and reliable relationship between language and social competence in children with DLD. The implications and limitations of this study and its future directions are also discussed.
本系统评价和荟萃分析旨在研究语言技能与发育性语言障碍（DLD）儿童社会能力之间的关系，并评估这些关系的潜在调节因素。
本研究按照在 PsycINFO、MEDLINE、Scopus、语言与语言行为文摘和 ProQuest 论文与学位全文数据库中进行的搜索策略进行报道。共有 15069 篇文章在标题和摘要阶段进行了独立的双筛检，其中 250 篇文章进行了全文审查。纳入标准包括：（a）年龄在 2 至 12 岁之间的 DLD 儿童样本；（b）语言测量；（c）社会能力测量；（d）适当的统计。排除标准包括：（a）无基线数据的干预研究；（b）基于前言语能力的语言测量；（c）DLD 儿童和其他临床疾病样本；（d）无可用统计数据的研究。符合荟萃分析纳入标准的 21 项研究的数据被提取出来。
纳入的 21 项研究（ = 7.52 岁；64%为男性）和 6830 名儿童的数据汇总表明，DLD 儿童的语言技能和社会能力之间存在显著关联（ =.18，95%置信区间[.12，.24]， <.001），关联强度较小。评估整体语言技能的研究的效应量大于专门测量接受性或表达性语言技能的研究。
本研究支持 DLD 儿童的语言和社会能力之间存在微妙而可靠的关系。本研究的意义和局限性及其未来方向也进行了讨论。
