Relatie tussen taalontwikkeling en internaliserende gedragsproblemen bij kinderen tussen vier en tien jaar met een mediërende rol van zelfcontrole

Abstract

Language occupies an important place in social, emotional and academic development. Young children who are lagging behind in their language development can later develop emotional and behavioral problems. Previous research on the relationship between language development and internalizing problem behavior has mainly been carried out among toddlers. This research focuses on the link between language development and internalizing problem behavior with a mediating role of self-control in children between the age of four and ten. The first two hypotheses stated that there is a negative link between lexical language development and internalizing problem behavior as well as between syntactic language development and internalizing problem behavior. The third and fourth hypotheses assumed that both relationships were mediated by self-control. The study was carried out with 38 mono-lingual Dutch speaking primary school children. Two tests were used: the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, to measure lexical language development and the Litmus Sentence Repetition Test to measure syntactic language development. The parents filled in two questionnaires: the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire to measure internalizing problem behavior and the Children’s Behavior Questionnaire or the Temperament in Middle Childhood Questionnaire to measure self-control. The results showed that no significant relationship was found between lexical and syntactic language development and internalizing problem behavior. In addition, no significant result was found for the mediating role of self-control. It can therefore be concluded that there is no link between language development and internalizing problem behavior.