Emotion Regulation in Children With Specific Language Impairment

Abstract

PURPOSE: The purpose of this preliminary study was to determine if emotion regulation warrants investigation as a factor influencing social outcomes in children with specific language impairment (SLI). Emotion regulation was evaluated in children with SLI and their typically developing peers. METHOD: Teachers were asked to rate the emotion regulation behaviors of 41 children with SLI and 41 typical peers using the "Emotion Regulation Checklist" (ERC, Shields & Cicchetti, 1997; 1998). Children were sampled from two age levels (6-9 years and 10-13 years). At each age level, equal numbers of boys and girls were sampled. RESULTS: As a group, children with SLI received significantly lower ratings than typical children. In addition, girls produced higher scores than boys. None of the other interactions was significant. Scores on the two subscales of the ERC, labeled as lability/negativity and emotion regulation, were then examined to further delineate performance. Boys with SLI had notably lower ratings than all the other groups on the emotion regulation subscale. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Emotion regulation warrants further research to determine if it is associated with specific social outcomes in children with SLI.