Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 4, 2025

Assessing the Coherence of Parents' Short Narratives Regarding their Child Using the Five-Minute Speech Sample Procedure
Published on: September 19, 2019
Narrative Discourse in Youth Offenders: Examining Individual Differences
Rhiannah Shirley1, Claire Silverman1, Claire Tran1
1Communication Disorders and Sciences Program, University of Oregon, Eugene.
Purpose:
This study examined narrative discourse in youth offenders, focusing on quality of story retelling, story comprehension, critical thinking, and the use of complex syntax.
Method:
The participants were 15 incarcerated adolescents, ages 13-18 years (Mage = 16 years). Each was evaluated at their detention center via Zoom, using a standardized language test and language samples that elicited narrative speaking with fables. After retelling a fable, the participant answered questions that examined story comprehension and critical thinking.
Results:
Most participants performed below average on the standardized language test and had difficulty on one or more of the language sampling measures. Areas of concern included quality of story retelling, story comprehension, critical thinking, and the use of complex syntax. Had language sampling not been employed, those weaknesses might have been overlooked.
Conclusions:
When evaluating youth offenders, it is important to elicit language samples that can provide detailed information about an adolescent's ability to communicate for genuine purposes. In this regard, the tasks employed in the current study could be helpful to speech-language pathologists in working with youth offenders, enabling them to pinpoint deficits and offer targeted intervention.
Related Concept Videos
Conduct Disorder
Revisionist Views of Adolescent and Adult Cognition
Cognitive Development During Adolescence
Influence of Parents and Peers on Identity
Parental Influence on Identity Development
Parents serve as primary guides and managers in an adolescent's life, offering support instrumental in decision-making and personal growth....
Ethnic Identity within a Larger Culture
Adler's Individual Psychology

