Association between pragmatic language competence and emotional/behavioral outcomes of 3rd graders in elementary school

Abstract

Objectives: There is a dearth of studies exploring the association between pragmatic language competence and emotional/behavioral outcomes among children. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the association between the two. Methods: Data (N=600; 9-year-old children) from 10th wave of the Panel Study on Korean Children (PSKC) of the Korea Institute of Child Care and Education (KICCE) were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficients and path analysis. The analyses were conducted using measures of total and subtest scores of performance data on the Children's Pragmatic Language Checklist (CPLC) and the Korean version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ-Kr). Results: Pragmatic language competence was related to hyperactivity/inattention, emotional symptoms, and prosocial behavior, and was not related to peer relationships problems and behavioral problems. And the problem of hyperactivity/inattention was directly affected by pragmatic language competence (β=-.973, p