Association of language, behavior, and parental stress in young children with a language disorder

Background: Several studies show that language problems, child behavior problems, and parental stress can co-occur in children. Still, little is known about how these domains are related in toddlers with a language disorder (LD). Aims: This study examined relations between language problems, child behaviour problems, and parental stress in toddlers with LD and if these relations differ for children with different types of LD. Method: Data of 185 children with LD (mean age 38 months) were collected using Routine Outcome Monitoring. Children were divided into two groups: presence of receptive and expressive problems (REP) and expressive problems only (EP). Relations were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling. Results: A better receptive language was associated with less teacher-reported internalizing and externalizing problems. A better expressive vocabulary was associated with more parent-reported internalizing problems and more teacher-reported externalizing problems. No relation was found between language and parental stress. Associations between language, behavior, and parental stress did not differ for children with REP or children with EP. Conclusions: Our study shows that when specific language domains are examined, the pattern of associations between language and behavior becomes more complex, because relations exist between specific language domains and behavior, but not between all of them.