Examining the Relation Between Language Skills and Challenging Behavior

Abstract

This topical issue consists of a collection of five empirical articles that use different methods and models to examine the dynamic interrelation between language skills and behavior problems within early childhood classrooms. The linkage between language and behavior problems among young children from families living in poverty has elicited considerable attention in the past two decades. The special issue brings attention to the importance of understanding children’s behavior and language skills within the context of their classroom supports and within the context of their own developmental capacities. Identifying strategic points of intervention that build upon the strengths of young children, their families, and their teachers is ultimately the goal to best promote positive developmental trajectories of children from families living in poverty—who are disproportionately from ethnic minority backgrounds. There are at least three reasons that the complex relation within the larger context of poverty has captivated researchers from multiple fields, including early childhood special education, child development, educational psychology, and communication sciences and disorders. First, research has highlighted the importance of language skills and behavioral functions during preschool years as developmentally related domains, which are critical for school success (Qi et al., 2019; Snow, 2007). Second, children living in poverty are at greater risk for language difficulties and behavior concerns (Baker & Brooks-Gunn, 2020; Hart & Risley, 1995). The five studies included in this issue advance an integrative view of child development by studying interrelatedness of language and behavior and the pathways involved among children from low-income backgrounds. Third, there is lack of clarity of whether the relation between these two domains is reciprocal despite considerable evidence of a unidirectional, negative association between language skills and challenging behaviors serving as predictors or outcomes. For example, some work has found lower receptive vocabulary during preschool years was associated with later higher externalizing behaviors (Petersen & LeBeau, 2020), while other studies have provided support for the contribution of challenging behaviors to poorer receptive vocabulary (Bulotsky-Shearer et al., 2020). A great deal remains to be learned about the process by which one skill influences the other. It is also valuable to understand the conditions under which these effects occur so that more focused prevention and interventions can be delivered to address the needs of children. Recent advances in research, practice, and theoretical formations call for a more comprehensive examination of the dynamic process that links language and behavior during preschool years. Authors of the first two articles presented studies that examined this complex relation at the child level. In their article, “Bidirectional Associations Between Preschool Classroom Behavior and Language and Literacy Skills in Head Start Children,” Cashiola et al. (2020) examined whether the associations between externalizing and internalizing behaviors and language and literacy skills among children enrolled in Head Start were reciprocal. Using structural equation modeling (SEM), the authors specified measurement models to create externalizing and internalizing latent variables before conducting cross-lagged panel analyses. They found teacher-reported child overactive (externalizing) behavior at the beginning of the Head Start school year was negatively associated with listening comprehension skills at the end of school year, and that early listening comprehension skills were negatively associated with teacher-reported child internalizing behavior. However, the relations between behavior and vocabulary and literacy skills were not bidirectional. The researchers called for development of strength-based models to inform interventions for children from lowincome families and to better understand strengths and needs of children in Head Start so that teachers can provide more individualized support to improve school readiness. Davis and Qi (2020) used Vygotsky’s (1962) sociocultural theory to provide frames for studying whether early language skills predicted behavior problems through social skills in predominantly Hispanic children enrolled in Head Start in their article, titled “A Longitudinal Examination of Language Skills, Social Skills, and Behavior Problems of Preschool Children From Low-Income Families.” This theory highlights the importance of language skills as the foundation for social skills, which might influence behavior problems. Davis and Qi (2020) also examined the extent to which children’s dominant home language and gender interacted with language skills to affect their behavior problems. They used a multi-informant approach and SEM to evaluate children’s behavior and social skills using parent and teacher reports. Children’s expressive and receptive 956781 TECXXX10.1177/0271121420956781Topics in Early Childhood Special Education editorial2020