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Vocabulary development and trajectories of behavioral and emotional difficulties via academic ability and peer problems
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posted on 2020-03-01, 00:00 authored by Elizabeth WestruppElizabeth Westrupp, Sheena Reilly, Cristina McKean, James Law, Fiona Mensah, Jan M NicholsonThis study investigates associations between trajectories of children's vocabulary development and subsequent behavioral and emotional difficulties via two potential mediating mechanisms; literacy and peer problems. Nationally representative data from 4,983 Australian children were used to examine trajectories of receptive vocabulary (4-5, 6-7, and 8-9 years) and hyperactivity-inattention, conduct problems and emotional symptoms (8-9, 10-11, 12-13, 14-15 years), and literacy and peer problems (8-9 years). Lower growth in vocabulary was related to trajectories of hyperactivity-inattention, conduct problems, and emotional symptoms. Literacy was a key mediator explaining these associations. Results were consistent for children below the 50th percentile for vocabulary at 4-5 years compared to the full sample. These findings suggest that early literacy-based interventions may alleviate declining academic, emotional and behavioral functioning in adolescence.
History
Journal
Child developmentVolume
91Issue
2Season
March / AprilPagination
e365 - e382Publisher
WileyLocation
Chichester, Eng.Publisher DOI
eISSN
1467-8624Language
engPublication classification
C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journalCopyright notice
2019, Society for Research in Child DevelopmentUsage metrics
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