The behaviour and self-esteem of children with specific speech and language difficulties

Children with specific speech and language difficulties (SSLD) may have associated difficulties that impair their access to the curriculum, and their social relationships at home and in school.

(i) To identify the range of additional problems experienced by children with SSLD in different educational contexts; (ii) to consider the relationship between these problems and the child's current language status and (iii) to consider the child's self-esteem and the extent to which self-esteem is associated with the primary language problem or other associated difficulties.

Sixty-nine children (17 girls, 52 boys) aged 7-8 years (Year 3) who had been identified as having SSLD, 59 from two local education authorities and 10 from regional special schools for children with severe speech and language difficulties.

The children were assessed on a range of cognitive, language and educational measures; children and teachers completed a measure of the children's self-esteem (Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance); teachers and parents completed a behavioural questionnaire (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ); teachers also completed a further rating scale which included a behaviour subscale (Junior Rating Scale: JRS).

The children's behaviour was rated as significantly different from the norm on both the SDQ and JRS, with the parents more likely to rate the child as having problems, but also as having prosocial behaviour. Both teachers and parents tended to rate the boys as having more problems than girls on the SDQ, with significant differences for the parents' ratings occurring on the total score and the hyperactivity and conduct problems scales. The children had positive self perceptions, which were comparable to the standardisation sample, and generally significantly higher than those of the teachers. The language and educational attainment scores of the children in special and mainstream schools were generally not significantly different, but parents rated the latter group as having more behaviour difficulties. Multiple regression analyses identified language comprehension and reading comprehension as the only predictors of the parents' rating of behaviour (on the SDQ). No relationship was found with the teachers' ratings.

Behavioural difficulties, but not low self-esteem, are common in children of 7-8 years with SSLD, but the differences in patterns of relationship between parents and teachers, and with respect to children attending mainstream and special schools, challenge simple interpretations of comorbidity.