Jennifer George, Jessica Berg and Dr. Martin Fujiki, Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology
Children with SLI (Speech Language Impairment) have difficulty with the comprehension and expression of language. SLI is distinct and separate from intellectual ability and children with SLI have non-verbal IQs within the normal range. Many children with SLI have not only language deficits, but social deficits as well.
Many children with SLI lack necessary social skills, are not considered to be favorable playmates by other children, and often display problem behaviors. Although the majority of children with SLI have social problems, SLI does not guarantee a deficit. Many factors may be linked to these deficits. Emotional competence, the understanding and expression of emotion, may play a role in the social functioning of children with SLI.
The subjects in our study participated in several evaluative tasks to observe and measure their emotional competence. As part of a larger study, the Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory was administered to assess each child’s understanding and manageability of his/her own emotions. This 30-item questionnaire regarding each child’s emotional competence was read to the child and then filled out by the examiner. The assessment has been normed on a large group of children and becomes a statistical comparison for emotional competence between children with SLI and typically developing children.
This study included an analysis of the emotional competence of children with SLI compared with the emotional competence of typical children through the use of this inventory. An overall scale score was obtained as well as four subscale scores. The four subscales included: the intrapersonal scale, interpersonal scale, adaptibility scale, and stress management scale. Interpersonal skills, relationships with others including listening and understanding, and adaptability skills having flexibility and reality in dealing with problems, are the two subcategories that deal with other people. Intrapersonal and stress management skills on the other hand, deal more with the child’s skills at the personal level, dealing with their own problems. In order to find which subscales were influential in for our study, we learned more about statistical analysis of data.
The interaction of two variables in our study was significant and can be accepted as meaningful if its Pvalue is less than .05. The P-value represents the percentage at which the interaction could happen by random chance. We found the interaction between subscale and language to be significant as its Pvalue= 0.0407.
The subscore was a repeated variable measure meaning that the same people answer questions referring to each subscale. From our statistical analysis, a line plot was configured that showed a significant effect that the subscales and language comparison had on the interpersonal and adaptability subcategories. The main effect of language and gender was insignificant, but the main effect of the subscales was significant. It was important to look at the individual subscales. The interaction between the subcategories did not explain a lot of the variability. There was not an exceeding large effect, but there was a significant difference between groups when we looked at the subscales.
Our study found statistical significance in two of the four subscales: the interpersonal scale and adaptability scale. This outcome was the most telling find in our study. Children with SLI show more difficulty listening, understanding, and relating with people in comparison to children without SLI. Also, convincing evidence indicated that children with SLI struggle to be flexible and realistic in managing change. Although the main effect between language and subscales may not be highly significant, the difference greatly impacts the effected child’s quality of life and tells us more about the impairment.