Does Early Child Language Predict Internalizing Symptoms in Adolescence? An Investigation in Two Birth Cohorts Born 30 Years Apart

Thornton, Emma ORCID: 0000-0003-4623-9538, Patalay, Praveetha, Matthews, Danielle and Bannard, Colin ORCID: 0000-0001-5579-5830 (2021) Does Early Child Language Predict Internalizing Symptoms in Adolescence? An Investigation in Two Birth Cohorts Born 30 Years Apart. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 92 (5). pp. 2106-2127.

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13615

Abstract

Language is vital for social interaction, leading some to suggest early linguistic ability paves the way for good adolescent mental health. The relation between age-5 vocabulary and adolescent internalizing symptoms was examined in two U.K. birth cohorts that are nationally representative in terms of sex, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status: the 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS; N = 11,640) and the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS born ~2001; N = 14,754). In the BCS, no relation between receptive vocabulary and age-16 self-reported symptoms was observed (β = 0.00 [-0.03; 0.03]). In the MCS, better expressive vocabulary was associated with more age-14 self-reported symptoms (β = 0.05 [0.02; 0.07]). The direction of this effect was reversed for parent-reported symptoms. All effect sizes were small. The relation between childhood vocabulary and internalizing symptoms varies by generation and reporter.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Humans, Cohort Studies, Language Development, Child Language, Linguistics, Vocabulary, Adolescent, Child, Child, Preschool
Divisions:	Faculty of Health and Life Sciences Faculty of Health and Life Sciences > Institute of Population Health
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	11 Aug 2021 13:24
Last Modified:	30 Jan 2024 19:34
DOI:	10.1111/cdev.13615
Open Access URL:	https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13615
Related URLs:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3133151