Understanding developmental language disorder - the Helsinki longitudinal SLI study (HelSLI): a study protocol

Area of Science:

• Developmental psychology
• Linguistics
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) affects approximately 7% of preschoolers, representing a significant disability group.
• The exact causes and linguistic variations of DLD remain unclear, necessitating further research.
• This project adopts a multiple deficit model to explore DLD across various analytical levels.

Purpose of the Study:

• To comprehensively investigate Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) in preschool children.
• To identify reliable prediction and early identification methods for DLD.
• To understand the interplay of risk and protective factors in DLD.

Main Methods:

• Longitudinal study of 227 children with suspected DLD and 160 typically developing peers.
• Multi-level analysis including etiological, neural, cognitive, behavioral, and psychosocial factors.
• Utilizing saliva samples, EEG, cognitive tasks, speech assessments, and questionnaires.

Main Results:

• The study is ongoing, with data collection and analysis in progress.
• Expected results will detail correlations between psychological characteristics, environment, and DLD.
• Findings will elucidate DLD in monolingual vs. bilingual children and its cognitive underpinnings.

Conclusions:

• The project aims to deepen the understanding of DLD's complex etiology and presentation.
• Findings will inform the development of targeted interventions for linguistic and non-linguistic aspects of DLD.
• This research will contribute to improving literacy development outcomes for children with DLD.