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Understanding the prevalence and manifestation of anxiety and other socio-emotional and behavioural difficulties in children with Developmental Language Disorder
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Abstract
Background: It is well-documented that children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) have a higher likelihood of experiencing anxiety, as well as other socio-emotional and behavioural (SEB) difficulties. Despite this, there is little consensus as to how these difficulties manifest. This study aims to understand the prevalence of broader SEB difficulties and anxiety, informing intervention development by understanding the relationships between them. Methods: A mixed-methods, case–control study was conducted. First, an online survey was completed by 107 parents of either children with DLD (“DLD sample”; n = 57) or typically developing children (“typical sample”; n = 50), aged 6–12 years old. Binary SEB statements informed by previous qualitative work (e.g. “my child requires routine/sameness”; “my child has frequent tantrums”) provided an insight into the prevalence of SEB difficulties in both DLD and typical samples. Validated measures of anxiety, emotion regulation, intolerance of uncertainty, insistence on sameness, family stress and coping mechanisms were also collected. Correlation and mediation analyses were run using these validated measures to understand the manifestation of anxiety in children with DLD in more detail. Qualitative interviews were then carried out with a select panel of survey respondents ( n = 4). Results: The DLD sample scored significantly higher on all binary SEB statements than the typical sample: experiencing anxiety (80.7%, p < .05), requiring routine and sameness (75.4%, p < .001) and emotional dysregulation (75.4%; p < .001) were the most common difficulties reported for children with DLD. Using the validated scales, family stress and coping mechanisms were found to only correlate with the manifestation of anxiety in the typical group, not the DLD group. “Intolerance of uncertainty” and “insistence on sameness” were found to fully mediate the relationship between DLD diagnosis and symptoms of anxiety. Parent’s interviews provided contextual support for the analysis, as well as highlighting sensory sensitivities as a focus for future research. Conclusions: Parents of children with DLD appear to cope well with their children’s complex SEB needs. Intervention focussing on intolerance of uncertainty may help the management of difficulties with anxiety. Behaviours such as insistence on sameness should be investigated further, as potential indicators for anxiety amongst children with DLD.
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Children with language difficulties are more likely to experience other socio-emotional and behavioral difficulties, even in adolescence and adulthood.
“Children with language difficulties are more likely to experience other socio-emotional and behavioral difficulties, even in adolescence and adulthood.”
From Tracking Acquisition of Language in Kids (TALK) study protocol: A longitudinal investigation of infants at high vs. low risk for atypical speech and language development (2026) · cites this paper as [70]
The Background and Discussion (page unavailable) say that children with developmental language disorder experience more socio-emotional and behavioural difficulties than typically developing peers, and the study found higher parent-reported rates. The paper discusses anxiety across childhood and mentions late adolescence, but it does not establish that the elevated range of difficulties persists into adulthood; its adulthood discussion concerns a potential risk, not an observed outcome in this group. (LLM, conf=0.85)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThese difficulties include anxiety, social phobia, ADHD, and depression.
“These include anxiety, social phobia, ADHD, and depression [68–71]”
From Tracking Acquisition of Language in Kids (TALK) study protocol: A longitudinal investigation of infants at high vs. low risk for atypical speech and language development (2026) · cites this paper as [70]
The Background reports elevated anxiety and depression among children with developmental language disorder, and the Discussion identifies social anxiety as a particular difficulty. The paper does not establish ADHD as one of the difficulties in this list; the ADHD mention found is in a reference about Prader–Willi syndrome. (LLM, conf=0.86)
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Metadata
- Authors
- Burnley, A., St Clair, M., Bedford, R., Wren, Y., & Dack, C.
- Affiliations
- University of Bath (GB)
- University of Bristol (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Burnley, Annabel
- Venue
- Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders
- Published
- 2023-06-15
- Volume
- 15
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 17-17
- ISSN
- 1866-1947 (ISSN-L)
- 1866-1955
- PMC
- PMC10268478
- OpenAlex
- W4380795736
- Cited by
- 33
- References
- 177
- Citations by year
- 2026: 16 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 1
- FWCI
- 16.04
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Update notices
- correction (2023-06-30)
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Research Square (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Explore Bristol Research (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Queen Mary Research Online (Queen Mary University of London) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- National Institute for Health Research Applied Research Collaboration West
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Language Development and Disorders
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Developmental and Educational Neuropsychology
- Keywords
- specific language impairment, childhood anxiety, intolerance of uncertainty, insistence on sameness, emotional dysregulation, family stress, coping strategies, sensory sensitivity, parental attitudes
- MeSH terms
- Anxiety, Child, Emotions, Humans, Language Development Disorders, Prevalence, Case-Control Studies
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