Stable associations between behavioral problems and language impairments across childhood - the importance of pragmatic language problems.
Kids with early behavior problems carry big pragmatic language deficits into adolescence—so assess both domains, not just behavior.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Andersen’s team tracked the kids for eight years. All had big behavior problems like hitting or defiance at .
At age 15 each teen took a short test of pragmatic language. The test asked things like “What does ‘keep your hair on’ mean?”
What they found
The behavior-problem teens scored far below their classmates. Their pragmatic scores sat at the 14th percentile on average.
In plain words, they could read aloud fine, but missed jokes, sarcasm, and unspoken rules.
How this fits with other research
Day et al. (2021) saw the opposite pattern in adults. Pragmatic problems shrank as people aged. The clash is only skin-deep: Andersen studied teens with clinical-level behavior histories, while J et al. looked at everyday adults.
Sutherland et al. (2017) also linked early language to later autism-linked traits, but their effect was tiny. Andersen shows a much larger hit, likely because the starting point was severe behavior, not ordinary slow talk.
Thurm et al. (2007) and Gabriels et al. (2001) taught us that toddler joint attention and imitation foretell preschool language. Andersen pushes the timeline forward: early behavior problems forecast pragmatic gaps still visible in high school.
Why it matters
If you treat severe behavior, keep checking social-use language at every re-eval. Pragmatic gaps fuel peer rejection, and peers can trigger the very behaviors you are trying to reduce. A quick 10-minute pragmatic screener can steer you toward social-skills goals that make aggression programs stick.
Want CEUs on This Topic?
The ABA Clubhouse has 60+ free CEUs — live every Wednesday. Ethics, supervision & clinical topics.
Join Free →Add one pragmatic question (e.g., “What does ‘break a leg’ mean?”) to your intake or review checklist for any client with a past behavior disorder.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
This study investigated language function associated with behavior problems, focusing on pragmatics. Scores on the Children's Communication Checklist Second Edition (CCC-2) in a group of 40 adolescents (12-15 years) identified with externalizing behavior problems (BP) in childhood was compared to the CCC-2 scores in a typically developing comparison group (n=37). Behavioral, emotional and language problems were assessed by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and 4 language items, when the children in the BP group were 7-9 years (T1). They were then assessed with the SDQ and the CCC-2 when they were 12-15 years (T2). The BP group obtained poorer scores on 9/10 subscales on the CCC-2, and 70% showed language impairments in the clinical range. Language, emotional and peer problems at T1 were strongly correlated with pragmatic language impairments in adolescence. The findings indicate that assessment of language, especially pragmatics, is vital for follow-up and treatment of behavioral problems in children and adolescents.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2014 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2014.02.016