Emotion Regulation in Children with Developmental Language Disorder

PROJECT SUMMARY Children and adolescents with developmental language disorder (OLD) are at elevated risk for mental health problems compared to their peers with typical language skills. The specific causes of increased mental health problems in individuals with OLD are currently unknown, but evidence points to emotion regulation (ER) difficulty as a potentially important contributor. ER is the effective engagement of cognitive, behavioral, and physiological processes needed to change or maintain emotional states. It is critical to understand ER in children with OLD because ER difficulties are associated with many psychiatric disorders and have been implicated as a transdiagnostic risk factor for the development of mental health problems. Studies suggest children with OLD display significantly worse ER skills than typically developing children, but the number of studies investigating ER in OLD are few. Additionally, in the extant studies, thirdparty ratings are the only measure of ER. This is problematic because parent report cannot provide information on internal ER processes (e.g., subjective experience or physiology). Additionally, rating scales previously used to measure ER in children with OLD do not differentiate between contexts (e.g., those requiring substantial linguistic processing and skill, and those that have decreased linguistic demands). Children with OLD may only experience deficits in ER within certain environments, e.g., those that place demands on linguistic processing, which is a primary deficit for children with OLD, rather than in domain-general tasks. The proposed project will address both gaps through the measurement of self-report, behavioral, and physiological indicators of ER during a linguistically demanding task and a domain-general task. Thus, in evaluating the ER of children with OLD using subjective, behavioral, and physiological measures, the proposed study will support determination of whether certain indicators of ER difficulties in OLD emerge only in environments that tax their linguistic resources or if they extend to domain-general contexts. This study aligns with the NIH NIDCD's mission and strategic plan through enhancing understanding of normal function and disordered processes of language. Ultimately, the proposed study will inform the assessment of ER in children with OLD and may lead to more precise and more timely identification of difficulties, which in turn would allow for earlier targeted interventions. The central purpose of this proposal is to provide training opportunities and mentorship in theories of psychological intervention, in physiological methodologies, and in advanced statistical analyses (e.g., linear mixed modeling). Training will also focus on scientific dissemination, project management, and responsible conduct of research. This will strengthen the career development of the candidate as she prepares for independence as an investigator in communication sciences and disorders.