Background and aim Individuals with developmental language disorder have been found to exhibit increased emotional difficulties compared to their typically developed peers. However, the underlying pathways involved in this relationship are unclear. It may be that poor language leads to social exclusion, resulting in feelings of frustration and isolation. Additionally, previous research has focused on clinical samples or early childhood in population cohorts. Therefore, the current paper examines the mediating effect of childhood peer problems on poor emotional outcomes in adolescence using a population cohort. Methods Data from the Millennium Cohort Study were analysed at ages 5, 7 and 14. The risk of developmental language disorder group (children considered at risk of developing developmental language disorder based on parental report of difficulties or a score −1.5 standard deviation on Naming Vocabulary subtest at age 5) was compared to a general population group. A Sobel–Goodman test was used to examine the mediating effect of teacher-reported peer problems at age 7 on the association between language difficulties at age 5 and parent-reported emotional problems at age 7 and 14. Results Peer problems at age 7 accounted for approximately 14% of the effect of language difficulties at age 5 on emotional problems at age 7, and approximately 17% of the effect of language difficulties at age 5 on emotional problems at age 14. Conclusions This paper supports previous findings that children and adolescents with language difficulties are at increased risk for social and emotional problems as reported by their parents and teachers. Furthermore, the findings show that peer problems partially mediate the relationship between language difficulties and emotional problems, suggesting that better relationships with peers may offer some protection against poor mental health outcomes in adolescents at risk of developmental language disorder. Implications This paper adds to the literature that investigates the mechanisms involved in the relationship between developmental language disorder and increased emotional problems. Practitioners wishing to reduce risk of emotional difficulties in children with developmental language disorder may wish to reflect on what they can do to support a child to develop positive peer relationships.

中文翻译：

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对早期语言障碍和同伴问题对青春期后期情绪障碍的纵向分析：来自千年队列研究的证据

背景和目标已经发现，与典型的同龄人相比，患有发展性语言障碍的人表现出更大的情绪障碍。但是，这种关系涉及的潜在途径尚不清楚。糟糕的语言可能会导致社会排斥，从而导致沮丧和孤立感。此外，先前的研究集中在人群中的临床样本或儿童早期。因此，本论文使用人口队列研究了儿童同龄人问题对青少年不良情绪结果的中介作用。方法对来自千年队列研究的数据进行了5、7和14岁的分析。将发展语言障碍的风险人群（根据父母的困难报告或在5岁时的命名词汇子测试中得分为-1.5标准差的儿童认为发展为语言障碍的风险）与一般人群进行了比较。使用Sobel–Goodman检验检验7岁时老师报告的同伴问题对5岁时语言障碍与7岁和14岁父母报告的情绪问题之间的中介作用。结果7岁时出现同伴问题5岁时语言障碍对情绪障碍的影响约占14％，而5岁时语言障碍对情绪障碍影响的影响约占17％。结论本文支持以前的发现，即父母和老师报告说，语言障碍的儿童和青少年面临社交和情感问题的风险增加。此外，研究结果表明，同伴问题部分地介导了语言障碍和情绪问题之间的关系，这表明与同伴的更好关系可以为处于发展性语言障碍风险的青少年提供一些保护，以防止他们的心理健康状况较差。启示本文将添加到研究发展性语言障碍与情绪增加问题之间关系的机制的文献中。