Nonverbal Executive Functioning in Relation to Vocabulary and Morphosyntax in Preschool Children With and Without Developmental Language Disorder

Emma Everaert; Tessel Boerma; Iris Selten; Ellen Gerrits; Michiel Houben; Jacob Vorstman; Frank Wijnen

doi:10.1044/2023_JSLHR-22-00732

Nonverbal Executive Functioning in Relation to Vocabulary and Morphosyntax in Preschool Children With and Without Developmental Language Disorder

Emma Everaert^*, Tessel Boerma, Iris Selten, Ellen Gerrits, Michiel Houben, Jacob Vorstman, Frank Wijnen

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Purpose: Developmental language disorder (DLD) is characterized by persistent and unexplained difficulties in language development. Accumulating evidence shows that children with DLD also present with deficits in other cognitive domains, such as executive functioning (EF). There is an ongoing debate on whether exclusively verbal EF abilities are impaired in children with DLD or whether nonverbal EF is also impaired, and whether these EF impairments are related to their language difficulties. The aims of this study were to (a) compare nonverbal performance of preschoolers with DLD and typically developing (TD) peers, (b) examine how nonverbal EF and language abilities are related, and (c) investigate whether a diagnosis of DLD moderates the relationship between EF and language abilities. Method: A total of 143 children (n_DLD = 65, n_TD = 78) participated. All children were between 3 and 6.5 years old and were monolingual Dutch. We assessed nonverbal EF with a visual selective attention task, a visuospatial short-term and working memory task, and a task gauging broad EF abilities. Vocabulary and morphosyntax were each measured with two standardized language tests. We created latent variables for EF, vocabulary, and morphosyntax. Results: Analyses showed that children with DLD were outperformed by their TD peers on all nonverbal EF tasks. Nonverbal EF abilities were related to mor-phosyntactic abilities in both groups, whereas a relationship between vocabulary and EF skills was found in the TD group only. These relationships were not significantly moderated by a diagnosis of DLD. Conclusions: We found evidence for nonverbal EF impairments in preschool children with DLD. Moreover, nonverbal EF and morphosyntactic abilities were significantly related in these children. These findings may have implications for intervention and support the improvement of prognostic accuracy.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	3954-3973
Number of pages	20
Journal	Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research
Volume	66
Issue number	10
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1044/2023_JSLHR-22-00732
Publication status	Published - Oct 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors

Funding

This work was supported by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (Project No. 360-89-080) to Frank Wijnen. We would like to thank all children, parents, professionals, and schools who participated in this study for their cooperation. We thank Fenna Duijnkerke and Marieke Huls for their support with data collection. We also acknowledge the support of Royal Auris Group, Royal Kentalis, Viertaal, and NSDSK with participant recruitment. This work was supported by the Netherlands Organi-zation for Scientific Research (Project No. 360-89-080) to Frank Wijnen. We would like to thank all children, parents, professionals, and schools who participated in this study for their cooperation. We thank Fenna Duijnkerke and Marieke Huls for their support with data collection. We also acknowledge the support of Royal Auris Group, Royal Kentalis, Viertaal, and NSDSK with participant recruitment.

Funders	Funder number
NSDSK
Netherlands Organi-zation for Scientific Research
Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek	360-89-080

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Cite this

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title = "Nonverbal Executive Functioning in Relation to Vocabulary and Morphosyntax in Preschool Children With and Without Developmental Language Disorder",

abstract = "Purpose: Developmental language disorder (DLD) is characterized by persistent and unexplained difficulties in language development. Accumulating evidence shows that children with DLD also present with deficits in other cognitive domains, such as executive functioning (EF). There is an ongoing debate on whether exclusively verbal EF abilities are impaired in children with DLD or whether nonverbal EF is also impaired, and whether these EF impairments are related to their language difficulties. The aims of this study were to (a) compare nonverbal performance of preschoolers with DLD and typically developing (TD) peers, (b) examine how nonverbal EF and language abilities are related, and (c) investigate whether a diagnosis of DLD moderates the relationship between EF and language abilities. Method: A total of 143 children (nDLD = 65, nTD = 78) participated. All children were between 3 and 6.5 years old and were monolingual Dutch. We assessed nonverbal EF with a visual selective attention task, a visuospatial short-term and working memory task, and a task gauging broad EF abilities. Vocabulary and morphosyntax were each measured with two standardized language tests. We created latent variables for EF, vocabulary, and morphosyntax. Results: Analyses showed that children with DLD were outperformed by their TD peers on all nonverbal EF tasks. Nonverbal EF abilities were related to mor-phosyntactic abilities in both groups, whereas a relationship between vocabulary and EF skills was found in the TD group only. These relationships were not significantly moderated by a diagnosis of DLD. Conclusions: We found evidence for nonverbal EF impairments in preschool children with DLD. Moreover, nonverbal EF and morphosyntactic abilities were significantly related in these children. These findings may have implications for intervention and support the improvement of prognostic accuracy.",

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Nonverbal Executive Functioning in Relation to Vocabulary and Morphosyntax in Preschool Children With and Without Developmental Language Disorder. / Everaert, Emma ; Boerma, Tessel ; Selten, Iris et al.
In: Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, Vol. 66, No. 10, 10.2023, p. 3954-3973.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

TY - JOUR

T1 - Nonverbal Executive Functioning in Relation to Vocabulary and Morphosyntax in Preschool Children With and Without Developmental Language Disorder

AU - Everaert, Emma

AU - Boerma, Tessel

AU - Selten, Iris

AU - Gerrits, Ellen

AU - Houben, Michiel

AU - Vorstman, Jacob

AU - Wijnen, Frank

PY - 2023/10

Y1 - 2023/10

N2 - Purpose: Developmental language disorder (DLD) is characterized by persistent and unexplained difficulties in language development. Accumulating evidence shows that children with DLD also present with deficits in other cognitive domains, such as executive functioning (EF). There is an ongoing debate on whether exclusively verbal EF abilities are impaired in children with DLD or whether nonverbal EF is also impaired, and whether these EF impairments are related to their language difficulties. The aims of this study were to (a) compare nonverbal performance of preschoolers with DLD and typically developing (TD) peers, (b) examine how nonverbal EF and language abilities are related, and (c) investigate whether a diagnosis of DLD moderates the relationship between EF and language abilities. Method: A total of 143 children (nDLD = 65, nTD = 78) participated. All children were between 3 and 6.5 years old and were monolingual Dutch. We assessed nonverbal EF with a visual selective attention task, a visuospatial short-term and working memory task, and a task gauging broad EF abilities. Vocabulary and morphosyntax were each measured with two standardized language tests. We created latent variables for EF, vocabulary, and morphosyntax. Results: Analyses showed that children with DLD were outperformed by their TD peers on all nonverbal EF tasks. Nonverbal EF abilities were related to mor-phosyntactic abilities in both groups, whereas a relationship between vocabulary and EF skills was found in the TD group only. These relationships were not significantly moderated by a diagnosis of DLD. Conclusions: We found evidence for nonverbal EF impairments in preschool children with DLD. Moreover, nonverbal EF and morphosyntactic abilities were significantly related in these children. These findings may have implications for intervention and support the improvement of prognostic accuracy.

AB - Purpose: Developmental language disorder (DLD) is characterized by persistent and unexplained difficulties in language development. Accumulating evidence shows that children with DLD also present with deficits in other cognitive domains, such as executive functioning (EF). There is an ongoing debate on whether exclusively verbal EF abilities are impaired in children with DLD or whether nonverbal EF is also impaired, and whether these EF impairments are related to their language difficulties. The aims of this study were to (a) compare nonverbal performance of preschoolers with DLD and typically developing (TD) peers, (b) examine how nonverbal EF and language abilities are related, and (c) investigate whether a diagnosis of DLD moderates the relationship between EF and language abilities. Method: A total of 143 children (nDLD = 65, nTD = 78) participated. All children were between 3 and 6.5 years old and were monolingual Dutch. We assessed nonverbal EF with a visual selective attention task, a visuospatial short-term and working memory task, and a task gauging broad EF abilities. Vocabulary and morphosyntax were each measured with two standardized language tests. We created latent variables for EF, vocabulary, and morphosyntax. Results: Analyses showed that children with DLD were outperformed by their TD peers on all nonverbal EF tasks. Nonverbal EF abilities were related to mor-phosyntactic abilities in both groups, whereas a relationship between vocabulary and EF skills was found in the TD group only. These relationships were not significantly moderated by a diagnosis of DLD. Conclusions: We found evidence for nonverbal EF impairments in preschool children with DLD. Moreover, nonverbal EF and morphosyntactic abilities were significantly related in these children. These findings may have implications for intervention and support the improvement of prognostic accuracy.

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U2 - 10.1044/2023_JSLHR-22-00732

DO - 10.1044/2023_JSLHR-22-00732

M3 - Article

SN - 1092-4388

VL - 66

SP - 3954

EP - 3973

JO - Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research

JF - Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research

IS - 10

ER -

Nonverbal Executive Functioning in Relation to Vocabulary and Morphosyntax in Preschool Children With and Without Developmental Language Disorder

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