The Ability of Children With Language Impairment to Dissemble Emotions in Hypothetical Scenarios and Natural Situations

Purpose: This study examined the ability of children with language impairment (LI) to dissemble (hide) emotional reactions when socially appropriate to do so. Method: Twenty-two children with LI and their typically developing peers (7;1-10; 11 [years; months]) participated in two tasks. First, participants were presented with hypothetical scenarios in which the main character was exposed to situations that would require dissembling an emotional reaction for social purposes (e.g., receiving a disappointing gift from a grandparent). In the second task, children were presented with four naturally occurring opportunities to dissemble emotion (e.g., receiving a disappointing reward for taking part in the study). Results: Although the ability to dissemble emotion was still emerging in children in both groups, typically developing children judged that dissemblance was appropriate significantly more often than did children with LI in the hypothetical scenarios. In naturalistic scenarios, there was little difference between groups in low-cost scenarios (those in which the child had nothing to lose by hiding emotion). In the high-cost scenario (hiding emotion meant accepting a disappointing prize), more typically developing children concealed their disappointment than did children with LI. These differences neared statistical significance (p = .058). Conclusion: Children with typically developing language showed a greater ability to dissemble in hypothetical scenarios. In naturalistic scenarios, performance was more nuanced. In low-cost scenarios, there was little difference between groups. In the high-cost scenario, typically developing children tended to dissemble more often than did children with LI.