Abstract

Background

Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) is a neurodevelopmental condition with difficulties in understanding and producing language. These language difficulties make it difficult for them to understand and express the various emotions, leading to emotional challenges as they grow. Research on studying the emotional challenges is limited and growing, but still, there is a lack of evidence that mentions how these challenges evolve from childhood to adolescence. 

Aim

To identify and understand emotional challenges in school-going children aged 6 to 17 years with DLD and to see how these evolve from childhood to adolescence.

Method

The current scoping review included five databases, and the search process was carried out systematically, resulting in 12 articles. These articles were selected based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria and the PCC framework. All the articles reported on the emotional challenges experienced by children and adolescents. 

Results

The results reveal that the children with DLD have problems with emotional competence, which includes awareness, regulation, and categorization. When these challenges were seen from childhood to adolescence, it was observed that the challenges were more with understanding and exhibited behaviourally during childhood, and gradually start to become multifaceted by affecting the social life, and during adolescence, it becomes more internalizing, impacting their social skills and mental health. The primary cause is the language deficits, which continue from childhood to adolescence and sometimes till adulthood. The secondary issues encountered are the problems faced at the level of social and behavioural domains, which in turn increase the risk of mental health problems.

Conclusions

It can be concluded that early emotional screening and implementation of tailor-made intervention strategies targeting not just the language deficits but also the other domains (e.g., emotional or social), which are difficult for the children, will positively impact their everyday life and help them in managing their emotional challenges.

Keywords: Emotional Challenges, Developmental Language Disorder (DLD), School-going children, Childhood to adolescence, and language deficits.