LANGUAGE, LEARNING, AND BEHAVIORAL DISTURBANCES IN CHILDHOOD - A LONGITUDINAL PERSPECTIVE

Objective: investigate longitudinally the course of development of pre school learning impaired (LI) children to better understand the intera ction between neurodevelopmental delay, behavioral/emotional disorders , and language development and disorders. Method: Relationships betwee n developmental language disorders and emotional problems were investi gated in 99 8-year-old specifically language impaired and control chil dren originally assessed at age 4 years using the Achenbach Child Beha vior Checklist and the Conners' Parents Questionnaire. Results: LI chi ldren received higher behavior problem scores and were more likely to score in the clinical range than were control children. Neither degree of early language impairment nor amount of language improvement predi cted 8-year behavioral/emotional status. LI children with the largest drop in IQ between ages 4 and 8 received the highest behavior problem scores. No significant comorbid relationship was seen between LI and a ttention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Conclusions: The enhanced inc idence of behavior problems reported heretofore may be related more to lower IQ than to linguistic deficit per se. Care must be taken to dif ferentiate the symptoms of neurodevelopmental delay and emotional dist urbance, however, preschool children with scores in the clinical range on such measures should be referred for additional evaluation.