The Relationship between Social Functioning and Vocabulary Skills at Preschool Age and School Age in Children Diagnosed with 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome and Typically Developing Children

Abstract

Background: Language abilities and social skills co-develop during childhood and are positively related. The exact nature of the relationship between the two is still unclear, and specifically the influence of social functioning on language remains relatively unexplored, while the relationship seems reciprocal. Furthermore, the correlation between the two has repeatedly been investigated for typically developing (TD) children, but children diagnosed with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11DS) have been disregarded even though they experience difficulties in both areas of development and their results could inform clinical care. The current study filled these gaps. Our aim was to examine the relationship between social functioning and vocabulary skills in children diagnosed with 22q11DS and TD children. We explored the influence of three cognitive factors on the correlation: selective attention (SA), short-term memory (STM) and working memory (WM). Methods: We combined a cross-sectional (CS) and longitudinal (LT) approach. The CS approach included 102 preschool children (TD: N = 68; 22q11DS: N = 34) in which we investigated the influence of social functioning on vocabulary and the mediating role of cognitive factors, all measured at preschool age (3 - 6.5 years). The LT approach included 23 school-aged children (TD: N = 18; 22q11DS: N = 5), a subset of the children from the CS approach. Social functioning was measured at preschool age, but vocabulary was measured at school age (9 - 12 years). Social functioning was assessed with the Social Responsive Scale – Version 2 (SRS-2) and divided into separate areas. Vocabulary (expressive; receptive) and cognition were measured with various standardized tests. Results: The CS approach showed TD children with weaker social consciousness had larger receptive vocabularies. In addition, the results suggested better social consciousness goes together with a bigger expressive vocabulary in children with 22q11DS. There was no mediation by cognition. The outcomes of the LT approach indicated TD children with higher social motivation had smaller vocabularies (expressive and receptive). The data pointed to some tentative patterns for children with 22q11DS: children with high vocabulary scores often had good social functioning in various areas. Conclusion: The correlation between social functioning and vocabulary seems different for TD children and children with 22q11DS, reflecting their distinct developmental trajectories. Our negative relationships contrast with previous correlational findings in TD children. Our data imply TD children might not especially benefit from social interaction in expanding their lexicon but likely adopt other strategies. The outcomes in the children with 22q11DS highlight the inherent social nature of their vocabularies. Practicing language in social interactions may be an important prerequisite of vocabulary expansion in this group, by providing a concrete learning context. Therapeutic interventions should integrate speech-language therapy with social skills training. Future studies should focus on another subdomain and explore the correlation between social functioning and grammar skills, for instance.