Child adversity exposure & SLI (Selin et al., 2022)

Purpose: Children exposed to adversity (e.g., chronic poverty, traumatic events, and maltreatment) are at increased risk for performing below age expectations on norm-referenced language assessments, but it is unknown whether the risk is higher for specific language impairment (SLI). This exploratory study investigated whether adversity exposure is associated with reduced grammar knowledge and SLI.
Method: The syntax subtest of the Diagnostic Evaluation of Language Variation–Norm-Referenced (DELV-NR) assessment was administered to 30 school-age children with known histories of adversity exposure. Their primary caregiver also completed a comprehensive adversity exposure measure, which captured adverse event type, frequency, chronicity, and severity. Analyses included t tests, correlations, Mann–Whitney U tests, and chi-square.
Results: Overall, the sample performed below age expectations on the DELVNR Syntax subtest, and a higher percentage of participants (20%) met diagnostic criteria for SLI than expected. The SLI and typical language (TL) groups did not significantly differ in adversity dosage, frequency, chronicity, or severity; however, participants in the SLI group were 1.46 times more likely to have experienced physical trauma than the participants in the TL group.
Conclusions: Children with known histories of adversity exposure presented with grammatical deficits and SLI more often than expected based on the DELV-NR normative sample; however, features of the adverse event did not associate with SLI status except for exposure to physical trauma (e.g., physical abuse and victimization). Future research is needed to investigate the prevalence and potential causal pathways of SLI in this population.

Supplemental Material S1. Adverse event types by SLI status.

Selin, C., Rice, M. L., & Jackson, Y. (2022). Adversity exposure, syntax, and specific language impairment: An exploratory study. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1044/2022_JSLHR-21-00578

研究目的：遭受逆境（例如，慢性贫困、创伤事件和虐待）的儿童在基于常模的语言评估中表现低于同龄预期，但尚不清楚这种风险是否对于特定语言障碍（SLI）更高。本研究旨在探讨逆境暴露是否与语法知识的减少和SLI的发生相关。
研究方法：对30名有已知逆境暴露历史的学龄儿童进行了诊断评估语言变异常模参考（DELV-NR）评估中的句法子测试。他们的主要照顾者也完成了一份全面的逆境暴露测量，该测量捕捉了不利事件类型、频率、持续性和严重性。分析包括t检验、相关性、Mann-Whitney U检验和卡方检验。
研究结果：总体而言，样本在DELVNR句法子测试中的表现低于同龄预期，有更多比例的参与者（20%）符合SLI的诊断标准，这一比例高于预期。SLI组和典型语言（TL）组在逆境剂量、频率、持续性和严重性方面没有显著差异；然而，SLI组的参与者比TL组的参与者更有可能经历过身体创伤（例如，身体虐待和受害）。
研究结论：有已知逆境暴露历史的儿童在语法缺陷和SLI的发生上比基于DELVNR常模样本预期的更为常见；然而，除了身体创伤（例如，身体虐待和受害）的暴露之外，不利事件的特征并未与SLI状态相关联。未来研究需要调查该群体中SLI的流行率和潜在的因果途径。
补充材料S1：按SLI状态分类的不利事件类型。
Selin, C., Rice, M. L., & Jackson, Y. (2022). 逆境暴露、句法和特定语言障碍：一项探索性研究。言语、语言和听力研究杂志。在线预发表。https://doi.org/10.1044/2022_JSLHR-21-00578