What is the nature of peer interactions in children with language disorders? A qualitative study of parent and practitioner views

Abstract

Background and aims Children with Language Disorders (LDs) can exhibit increased levels of social withdrawal, aggression and problems managing social conflicts. The reasons underlying this pattern of social interaction profiles remain unclear. This qualitative study aimed to document the nature of social interactions between children with LDs and their peers, and to evaluate explanations for their social behaviour, as understood by parents and practitioners. Methods This study focused on children with LDs who spend school hours with other children with LDs. Three parent focus groups (n = 8) and three practitioner focus groups (n = 10) were conducted with parents of children aged 4–12 attending specialist language schools and practitioners working at these schools. This was a mixed clinical sample. All children of participating parents had LD as their primary area of need, which was the reason they required specialist schooling. Focus groups were conducted across two specialist schools in the UK between March and June 2018. Results An inductive reflective thematic analysis of the data identified three themes; social knowledge, coping strategies, and emotional competence. Parents and school staff reported that children with LDs experience difficulties managing peer interactions due to a combination of challenges including difficulties with understanding and regulating emotions, and difficulties understanding social situations. Some of the children with LDs were described as having developed strategies to cope with their challenges, for example imposing structure on their social interactions to manage uncertainty, which has implications for their social interactions with peers. Conclusions Children with LDs have difficulties understanding emotions, difficulties understanding their peer’s intentions and difficulties resolving conflict situations independently according to their parents and practitioners working with these children. Participants proposed a novel explanation that social withdrawal may be used adaptively by children with LDs to process information. This study demonstrates the complexity of the relationship between Language Disorders and peer interaction profiles. Implications: Suggestions are offered regarding future research directions, such as investigating the specific contribution language skills make to children’s emotion understanding, to better understand the reasons for peer interaction difficulties in children with Language Disorders.

Understanding the prevalence and manifestation of the anxiety and social difficulties experienced by children with Developmental Language Disorder.

“…The parents in the current study understood this as an attempt to 'control' their environment, expanding on previous social ndings (47). Lloyd-Esenkaya and colleagues described a 'structure' that children with DLD were observed to impose on their social interactions, illustrating a preference for sameness and routine within social activities (47). It is understandable that the communication di culties characteristic of DLD may well lead to feeling out of control of one's environment; for example, the increased di culties with using self-talk could limit their ability to process information about their surroundings or prepare for activities (110,111).…”

“…Characteristically, anxiety can also contribute to negative interpretations of other people's behaviours in social situations (45), particularly in the presence of ambiguity (46), such as that created by disordered language. Suggestions have been made that such negative interpretation bias could exist amongst children with DLD when engaging in social interaction (47), perhaps fuelled by the anxiety of not understanding what is being said and resulting in unnecessary con ict. These connections, however, have yet to be explicitly tested.…”

Retrospective bullying trajectories in adults with self‐reported oral language difficulties

“…The relation between bullying and language difficulties could be due to different reasons. One of them could be that they are more vulnerable due to their diminished comprehension of social situations (Andrés‐Roqueta et al ., 2016 ; Fujiki et al ., 2013 ; Sako, 2016 ); or perhaps their lack of language skills leads to difficulties in emotional understanding skills (Lloyd‐Esenkaya et al ., 2021 ); while another explanation is related with lower adequacy in communicative situations derived from some deficit in social cognition (Bakopoulou & Dockrell, 2016 ; Conti‐Ramsden & Botting, 2014 ).…”

“…First, children's language and communicative deficits could make them more vulnerable to bullying due to the lack of comprehension of social situations (Andrés‐Roqueta et al ., 2016 ; Fujiki et al ., 2013 ; Sako, 2016 ). Second, social rejection can appear as a result of difficulties in emotional understanding due to their poorer language skills (Lloyd‐Esenkaya et al ., 2021 ). Third, lower language skills make children have deficits in social cognition and lower adequacy in communicative situations (Bakopoulou & Dockrell, 2016 ; Conti‐Ramsden & Botting, 2014 ).…”

Associations Between Self, Peer, and Teacher Reports of Victimization and Social Skills in School in Children With Language Disorders

“…First, they can be more rejected due to their language and communicative deficits ( Fujiki et al, 2013 ; Andrés-Roqueta et al, 2016 ; Sako, 2016 ). Second, this rejection can appear as a result of difficulties in emotional understanding due to their poorer language skills ( Lloyd-Esenkaya et al, 2021 ). Third, they can present deficits in social cognition and lower adequacy in communicative situations ( Conti-Ramsden and Botting, 2014 ; Bakopoulou and Dockrell, 2016 ; Font-Jordà et al, 2018 ; Valera-Pozo et al, 2020 ).…”