Investigating Narrative Performance in Children With Developmental Language Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abortion and mental health outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis

This is a protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis of research on mental health outcomes of abortion. Does abortion increase the risk of adverse mental health outcomes? That is the central question for this review. Our review aims to inform policy and practice by locating, critically appraising, and synthesizing empirical evidence on associations between abortion and subsequent mental health outcomes. Given the controversies surrounding this topic and the complex social, political, legal, and ideological contexts in which research and reviews on abortion are conducted, it is especially important to conduct this systematic review and meta-analysis with comprehensive, rigorous, unbiased, and transparent methods. We will include a variety of study designs to enhance understanding of studies' methodological strengths and weaknesses and to identify potential explanations for conflicting results. We will follow open science principles, providing access to our methods, measures, and results, and making data available for re-analysis.

Sentence Repetition as a Diagnostic Tool for Developmental Language Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

PURPOSE

This systematic review and multilevel meta-analysis examines the accuracy of sentence repetition (SR) tasks in distinguishing between typically developing (TD) children and children with developmental language disorder (DLD). It explores variation in the way that SR tasks are administered and/or evaluated and examines whether variability in the reported ability of SR to detect DLD is related to these differences.

METHOD

Four databases were searched to identify studies that had used an SR task on groups of monolingual children with DLD and TD children. Searches produced 3,459 articles, of which, after screening, 66 were included in the systematic review. A multilevel meta-analysis was then conducted using 46 of these studies. Multiple preregistered subgroup analyses were conducted in order to explore the sources of heterogeneity.

RESULTS

The systematic review found a great deal of methodological variation, with studies spanning 19 languages, 39 SR tasks, and four main methods of production scoring. There was also variation in study design, with different sampling (clinical and population sampling) and matching (age and language matching) methods. The overall meta-analysis found that, on average, TD children outperformed children with DLD on the SR tasks by 2.08 SDs. Subgroup analyses found that effect size only varied as a function of the matching method and language of the task.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results indicate that SR tasks can distinguish children with DLD from both age- and language-matched samples of TD children. The usefulness of SR appears robust to most kinds of task and study variation.

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL

https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.25864405.

Testing the Continuum/Spectrum Model in Russian-Speaking Children With and Without Developmental Language Disorder

PURPOSE

Previously, Lancaster and Camarata (2019) showed that the continuum/spectrum model of the developmental language disorder (DLD) best explained the high heterogeneity of symptoms in children with DLD. We hypothesize that the continuum/spectrum approach can include not only children with DLD but also typically developing (TD) children with different timelines and patterns of language acquisition. This model can explain individual language profiles and deficits in children.

METHOD

We assessed language abilities in a group of Russian-speaking children with DLD aged 4-7 years (n = 53) and their age- and gender-matched peers without speech and language diagnoses (n = 53, TD). We evaluated the children's performance at four language levels in production and comprehension domains, using 11 subtests of the standardized language assessment for Russian: Russian Child Language Assessment Battery (RuCLAB). Using the k-means cluster method and RuCLAB scores, we obtained two clusters of children and analyzed their language performance in individual subtests.

RESULTS

The analysis revealed that the two clusters of children both included DLD and TD participants: Group 1, with higher test scores (TD = 45, DLD = 24 children), and Group 2, with lower scores (TD = 8, DLD = 29). Children from Group 1 mostly had lower scores at one of the language levels, whereas those from Group 2 struggled at several language levels. Furthermore, children with DLD from both groups tended to be more sensitive to linguistic features such as word length, noun case, and sentence reversibility compared to TD children.

CONCLUSIONS

The presence of two mixed groups shows that children with diagnosed DLD could perform on par with TD children, whereas some younger TD children could perform similarly to children with DLD. Our findings support the continuum/spectrum model: Linguistic skills in preschool children are a continuum, varying from high to poor skills at all language levels in comprehension and production. To describe a child's language profile, the tasks assessing all language levels should be used.

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL

https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.25521400.

Diagnostic Accuracy of Grammaticality and Utterance Length in Bilingual Children

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to investigate the diagnostic accuracy of two measures derived from spontaneous language samples, mean length of utterance in words (MLUw) and percentage of grammatical utterances (PGU), in identifying developmental language disorder (DLD) in Spanish-English bilingual children. We examined two approaches: best language and total language.

METHOD

The participants in this study included 74 Spanish-English bilingual children with (n = 36) and without (n = 38) DLD. Language samples were elicited through a story retell and story generation task using Frog wordless picture books in English and Spanish. Stories were transcribed and coded using the Systematic Analysis of Language Samples (Miller & Iglesias, 2020) to extract MLUw and PGU in both languages.

RESULTS

Logistic regression analyses suggested that a model that included PGU, MLUw, and age achieved the best diagnostic accuracy in predicting group membership. Both approaches, best language and total language, had fair diagnostic accuracy.

CONCLUSIONS

In combination, PGU and MLUw seem to be useful diagnostic tools to differentiate bilingual children with and without DLD. Clinical implications and usability are discussed.

How to Assess Oral Narrative Skills of Children and Adolescents with Intellectual Disabilities: A Systematic Review

Children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities (ID) often encounter difficulties with narrative skills. Yet, there is a lack of research focusing on how to assess these skills in this population. This study offers an overview of the tools used for assessing oral narrative skills in children and adolescents with ID, addressing key questions about common assessment tools, their characteristics, and reported evidence. A systematic review was conducted of the literature published between 2010 and 2023 in the PsycINFO, ERIC, Education, and Psychology databases. An initial 1176 studies were reviewed by abstract, of which 485 were read in full text, leading to the selection and analysis of 22 studies. Most of the identified tools involve analyzing language samples obtained using wordless picture story books. Three common tools are emphasized. Studies have primarily identified inter-rater reliability and test-criterion evidence for validity. The main tools and their characteristics are discussed in depth to aid readers in discerning suitable options for research or practical applications. The importance of reporting diverse sources of evidence for validity and reliability within this population is highlighted.

Disfluencies in the narratives of Russian-Hebrew bilingual children with and without Developmental Language Disorder (DLD)

The present study examined disfluencies in the narratives of Russian-Hebrew bilingual children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) and Typical Language Development (TLD) in both Russian (home language) and Hebrew (societal language), with a focus on the independent and combined effects of language disorder and cross-linguistic differences on the rates and loci of disfluencies. Narratives were collected from 44 bilingual children (14 with DLD), ages 5;7-6;6, using a story retelling procedure. The narrative coding system targeted ratios of the following disfluencies (per C-unit): silent pauses, repetitions, self-corrections, and filled pauses. Silent pauses longer than 0.25 sec were identified using PRAAT software© and were classified according to the following durations: more than 0.5 sec, 1 sec, 1.5 sec, and 2 sec. In addition, the loci of pauses (utterance-initial or utterance-internal) and repetitions (content or function words) were coded. Overall, children with DLD and TLD had comparable rates of disfluencies but differed for pauses longer than 0.5 sec and repetition of content words in both languages. For the overall ratio of pauses (more than 0.25 sec), children with and without DLD had more pauses in Russian. Long pauses and repetition of content words reflect difficulties for bilingual children with DLD in dealing with the demands of storytelling, in particular planning processes. A higher ratio of pauses in Russian suggests that they reflect lower proficiency in that language.

A preliminary study of the effects of stimulant medications on estimates of psycholinguistic abilities for children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

Underlying deficits in inattention, hyperactivity, and/or impulsivity might contribute to suboptimal test-taking behaviours during language assessments that can lead to diagnostic errors. Considerations of potential medication effects on estimates of children's nonword repetition, sentence recall, tense-marking, and narrative abilities are warranted given long-standing enthusiasm for these indices to serve as clinical markers for developmental language disorder (DLD). A battery consisting of 1 nonverbal, 1 reading, and 6 verbal measures was administered twice to 26 children (6-9 years) with independently diagnosed combined-type attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). All participants had been prescribed stimulant medications for the management of their ADHD symptoms and were assessed off- and on-medication, with order counter-balanced across participants. Half of the participants had concomitant DLD. Examiners were unaware of children's clinical status during assessments or when they were testing children who had received medication. Effect sizes were calculated for each measure. Significant score differences indicating a beneficial impact of stimulant medications on children's performances were observed on the recalling sentences subtest of the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals and the Picture Peabody Vocabulary Test. Adjustments may be needed when speech language pathologists use sentence recall or receptive vocabulary measures to make diagnostic decisions with children who have ADHD.

Vocabulary Diversity in Personal Narratives Produced in Response to the Global TALES Protocol in Dutch-Speaking Students with and without Dyslexia

INTRODUCTION

This study examines whether there are differences in expressive vocabulary between participants with and without dyslexia in personal narratives in response to the Global TALES protocol.

METHODS

22 monolingual Dutch-speaking participants aged 11-16 with dyslexia and 22 age and gender-matched peers without dyslexia were assessed on measures of decoding, reading comprehension, and spelling of words, pseudowords, verbs, and sentences. The participants also produced personal narratives in response to the six prompts contained in the Global TALES protocol. We analyzed the personal narratives for expressive vocabulary and counted the total number of different words (TNDW).

RESULTS

The study revealed a significant relationship between TNDW and reading comprehension (r = 0.45, p = 0.002, BF10 = 17.70), spelling words (r = 0.42, p = 0.005, BF10 = 8.93), and spelling and writing conventions in sentences (r = 0.37, p = 0.016, BF10 = 3.11). The Global TALES protocol was successful in eliciting personal narratives in the Dutch-speaking participants with and without dyslexia. Participants with dyslexia used fewer different words (M = 192.27, SD = 64.37; 95% CI: [151.84-232.71]) compared to peers without dyslexia (M = 265.50, SD = 116.28; 95% CI: [225.06-305.93]; F(1, 42) = 6.68; p = 0.013; η2 = 0.14). When we compared the probability of models, Bayesian factors revealed moderate evidence for group differences in TNDW (BF = 3.94).

CONCLUSION

Our findings indicate that older school-age participants with dyslexia may lag behind their peers in expressive vocabulary in a personal narrative discourse task that is relevant to everyday functioning. The results of this study highlight the relationship between expressive vocabulary and reading comprehension and the importance of the assessment of spoken language skills in children with dyslexia. Reading problems might lead to less advanced spoken language, which in turn may negatively affect the expressive vocabulary growth in individuals with dyslexia.

Development of Clause Complexity in Children with Specific Language Impairment/Language Development Disorder: A Longitudinal Study

This paper addresses the grammatical challenges associated with the development of clause complexity, focusing on the performance of a group of monolingual Spanish-speaking schoolchildren with Specific Language Impairment/Developmental Language Disorder (SLI/DLD) in a longitudinal corpus of oral narrative samples. The study examines the presence of interclause relations of subordination and equivalence (hypotaxis and parataxis) in language samples of two groups: an experimental group made up of 24 schoolchildren with SLI/DLD and a control group made up of 24 schoolchildren with typical development (TD). The results show that while both groups use parataxis as the most common relation between clauses in all school grades, there is a significant decrease in paratactic relations and a significant increase in hypotactic relations from first to fourth grade of primary education. Although the development patterns are highly similar, the SLI/DLD group shows greater difficulties in mastering more complex (hypotactic) relations in fourth grade compared to the control group, indicating that it is less sophisticated in the use of these types of complex relations. These findings suggest that focused support on the most complex structures is needed towards the fourth grade of primary education, given the demands of the school academic register from 6 and 7 years of age and the potential problems that the development of clause complexity can cause in school-age children.

PROTOCOL: Group-based interventions for posttraumatic stress disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis of the role of trauma type

This is the protocol for a Campbell systematic review. The primary objective is to assess the effects of group-based treatments on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomology in people diagnosed with PTSD (by a clinician or screening instrument) or referred to a PTSD treatment group for their symptoms by a medical professional. We will also examine a range of moderators that may affect the efficacy of group-based treatments, including the nature of the trauma (interpersonal, stigmatized) and the group fit (in terms of gender and shared vs. unshared trauma). Further, we will also explore what, if any, group-based and social identity factors are recorded and how they relate to PTSD outcomes.