Neuroeducational model of emotional competence in Developmental Language Disorder
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55040/ebjsbr46Keywords:
language impairments, psycholinguistics, emotional development, social emotional learning, social interactionAbstract
Developmental Language Disorder not only affects linguistic competence, but is also associated with anxiety, depression, low self-esteem and social vulnerability. It additionally entails persistent difficulties in peer interaction and an increased risk of school victimisation. From a constructivist perspective, language is key to the categorisation and precision of emotional experience. The aim of this article is to synthesise the evidence on the language–emotion link in Developmental Language Disorder and to integrate the findings in order to propose a neuroeducational model of emotional competence applicable to school settings. A systematic review with narrative integration was conducted on empirical and theoretical studies on Developmental Language Disorder, emotion and education, including systematic reviews, longitudinal studies and qualitative research. Priority was given to work using validated measures of anxiety, regulation and social interaction. The results show four main patterns: (1) interaction difficulties and victimisation; (2) increased anxiety, mediated by intolerance of uncertainty and insistence on routine; (3) depressive symptomatology, linked to avoidant strategies; and (4) a limited verbal repertoire that reduces emotional granularity and self-regulation. In Spain, there is a clear scarcity of longitudinal and qualitative studies and a limited integration of emotional variables in research and educational policy. In conclusion, a neuroeducational model is proposed focusing on the enrichment of emotional vocabulary, training in flexibility under uncertainty, the promotion of adaptive regulation strategies and the strengthening of social participation, grounded in early identification and in a policy agenda that explicitly incorporates the emotional component of Developmental Language Disorder.
References
Agencia Europea para las Necesidades Educativas Especiales y la Educación Inclusiva (EASNIE). (2022). Key principles for inclusive education: Guidelines for policy makers [Principios clave para la educación inclusiva: Guía para responsables políticos]. https://www.european-agency.org
Ahufinger, N., & Aguilera, M. (2022). El impacto de los estereotipos sexistas en el estudio, detección y evaluación del Trastorno del Desarrollo del Lenguaje: Propuestas para su abordaje desde una perspectiva feminista [The impact of sexist stereotypes on the study, detection and assessment of Developmental Language Disorder: Proposals for a feminist approach]. Revista Chilena de Fonoaudiología, 21(2), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.5354/0719-4692.2022.68921
Ahufinger, N., Aguilera, M., Guerra, E., Giberga, A., Verdaguer-Ribas, O., Balboa-Castells, R., Andreu, L., Esteve-Gibert, N., & Sanz-Torrent, M. (2025). Emotional suffering in school-aged children and adolescents with and without developmental language disorder [Sufrimiento emocional en niños y adolescentes con y sin trastorno del desarrollo del lenguaje]. Acta Psychologica, 255, 104927. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2025.104927
Baixauli-Fortea, I., Roselló-Miranda, B., & Colomer-Diago, C. (2020). Influencia del lenguaje y la cognición en la competencia emocional [Influence of language and cognition on emotional competence]. Revista de Psicología Clínica con Niños y Adolescentes, 7(2), 9–16.
Barrett, L. F. (2017). La vida secreta del cerebro: Cómo se construyen las emociones [The secret life of the brain: How emotions are constructed] (C. García-Adánez, Trad.). Paidós.
Bishop, D. V. M., Snowling, M. J., Thompson, P. A., Greenhalgh, T., & CATALISE Consortium. (2016). CATALISE: A multinational and multidisciplinary Delphi consensus study [CATALISE: Estudio de consenso Delphi multinacional y multidisciplinar]. PLOS ONE, 11(7), e0158753. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0158753
Bruner, J. (1990). Actos de significado: Más allá de la revolución cognitiva [Acts of meaning: Beyond the cognitive revolution]. Alianza.
Burnley, A., St Clair, M., Dack, C. et al. Exploring the Psychosocial Experiences of Individuals with Developmental Language Disorder During Childhood: A Qualitative Investigation [Exploración de las experiencias psicosociales de personas con TDL durante la infancia: Una investigación cualitativa]. J Autism Dev Disord 54, 3008–3027 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-023-05946-3
CAST. (2018). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines v2.2 [Directrices de Diseño Universal para el Aprendizaje v2.2]. https://udlguidelines.cast.org
Denham, S. A. (2006). Social-emotional competence for school readiness [Competencia socioemocional para la preparación escolar]. Early Education and Development, 17(1), 57–89. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15566935eed1701_4
Donolato, E., Cardillo, R., Mammarella, I. C., & Melby-Lervåg, M. (2022). Language/SLD and internalizing/externalizing problems: Meta-analysis [Lenguaje/TDL y problemas internalizantes/externalizantes: Metaanálisis]. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 63(5), 507–518. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.13536
Durgungoz, F. C., & St. Clair, M. C. (2024). An interactive technology-based emotion recognition intervention for children with DLD: A longitudinal mixed‑method study [Intervención interactiva basada en tecnología para el reconocimiento emocional en niños con TDL: Estudio longitudinal mixto]. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 138, 104565. https://doi.org/10.1080/08856257.2024.2407659
Elsayed, N. M., Vogel, A. C., Luby, J. L., & Barch, D. M. (2021). Labeling emotional stimuli in early childhood predicts emotion regulation in late adolescence [La categorización de estímulos emocionales en la infancia predice la regulación emocional en la adolescencia tardía]. Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, 6(1), 89–98. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpsc.2020.08.018
European Commission. (2019). Key competences for lifelong learning [Competencias clave para el aprendizaje permanente. Publications Office of the EU. https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2766/291008
Hobson, H., & van den Bedem, N. P. (2021). The association between parent‑ and child‑report measures of alexithymia in children with and without developmental language disorder [Asociación entre medidas de alexitimia informadas por padres e hijos en niños con y sin TDL]. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(15), 8309. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18168309
Hulme, C., McGrane, J., Duta, M., West, G., Cripps, D., Dasgupta, A., Hearne, S., Gardner, R., & Snowling, M. (2024). LanguageScreen: The development, validation, and standardization of an automated language assessment app [LanguageScreen: Desarrollo, validación y estandarización de una app automatizada de evaluación del lenguaje]. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 54(3), 712–742. https://doi.org/10.1044/2024_LSHSS-24-00004
Ibáñez‑Rodríguez, A., Ahufinger, N., Ferinú, L., García‑Arch, J., Andreu, L., & Sanz‑Torrent, M. (2021). Dificultades sociales, emocionales y victimización específica por el lenguaje en el TDL [Social, emotional difficulties and language-specific victimization in DLD]. Revista de Logopedia, Foniatría y Audiología, 41, 40–48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rlfa.2020.03.017
Jensen de López, K., Kuvač Kraljević, J., & Bang Struntze, E. (2021). Efficacy, model of delivery, intensity and targets of pragmatic interventions for children with developmental language disorder: A systematic review [Eficacia, modalidad de implementación e intensidad de las intervenciones pragmáticas para niños con TDL: Revisión sistemática]. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, 56(4), 765–787. https://doi.org/10.1111/1460-6984.12716
Lervåg, A., Hulme, C., & Melby‑Lervåg, M. (2018). Oral language and reading comprehension: Developmental relations [Lenguaje oral y comprensión lectora: Relaciones evolutivas]. Developmental Psychology, 54(5), 761–771.
Ley Orgánica 3/2020, de 29 de diciembre, por la que se modifica la LOE (LOMLOE). (2020). Boletín Oficial del Estado, 340, 122868–122953. https://www.boe.es/eli/es/lo/2020/12/29/3
Lindsay, G., & Strand, S. (2016). Children with language impairment: Prevalence, attainment and behavior [Niños con trastorno del lenguaje: Prevalencia, rendimiento y conducta]. Frontiers in Education, 1, 2. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2016.00002
Lloyd‑Esenkaya, V., Russell, A. J., & St. Clair, M. C. (2020). What are the peer interaction strengths and difficulties in children with developmental language disorder? A systematic review [Fortalezas y dificultades de la interacción entre iguales en niños con TDL: Revisión sistemática]. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(9), 3140. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17093140
McGregor, K. K. (2020). How we fail children with developmental language disorder [Cómo fallamos a los niños con trastorno del desarrollo del lenguaje]. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 51(4), 981–992. https://doi.org/10.1044/2020_LSHSS-20-00003
Panksepp, J. (1998). Affective neuroscience: The foundations of human and animal emotions [Neurociencia afectiva: Los fundamentos de las emociones humanas y animales]. Oxford University Press.
Rinaldi, S., Caselli, M. C., Cofelice, V., D’Amico, S., De Cagno, A. G., Della Corte, G., … Zoccolotti, P. (2021). Efficacy of treatment of DLD: Systematic review [Eficacia del tratamiento del TDL: Revisión sistemática]. Brain Sciences, 11(3), 407. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11030407
Ross‑Lévesque, É., Careau, E., & Desmarais, C. (2023). Response to intervention services for preschool children with DLD [Servicios de respuesta a la intervención para preescolares con TDL]. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 39(1), 94–109. https://doi.org/10.1177/02656590231155862
Sanz‑Torrent, M., & Andreu, L. (2021). Caracterización lingüística de los trastornos del lenguaje [Linguistic characterization of language disorders]. Revista de Logopedia, Foniatría y Audiología, 41(4), 169–176.
Snowling, M. J., Duff, F., Nash, H., & Hulme, C. (2016). Language profiles and literacy outcomes [Perfiles lingüísticos y resultados en lectoescritura]. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 57(6), 724–732. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12497
Snowling, M. J., Nash, H. M., Gooch, D., & Hulme, C. (2021). Early language problems and later academic outcomes [Problemas de lenguaje temprano y resultados académicos posteriores]. Educational Psychology Review, 33(3), 1005–1025.
Spence, S. H. (1998). A measure of anxiety symptoms among children [Una medida de los síntomas de ansiedad en niños]. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 36(5), 545–566. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0005-7967(98)00034-5
Sureda‑García, I., Valera‑Pozo, M., Sánchez‑Azanza, V., Adrover‑Roig, D., & Aguilar‑Mediavilla, E. (2021). Self, peer, and teacher reports of victimization and social skills in children with language disorders [Informes de autopercepción, iguales y profesorado sobre victimización y habilidades sociales en niños con trastornos del lenguaje]. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 753073. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.718110
The Hanen Centre. (2023). It Takes Two to Talk Program [Programa It Takes Two to Talk]. https://www.hanen.org/Programs/For-Parents/It-Takes-Two-to-Talk.aspx
van den Bedem, N. P., Dockrell, J. E., van Alphen, P. M., de Rooij, M., Samson, A. C., Harjunen, E. L., & Rieffe, C. (2018). Depressive symptoms and emotion regulation strategies in children with and without DLD: Longitudinal study [Síntomas depresivos y estrategias de regulación emocional en niños con y sin TDL: Estudio longitudinal]. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, 53(6), 1110–1123. https://doi.org/10.1111/1460-6984.12423
Voice 21. (2022). The Oracy Skills Framework [El marco de habilidades de oracy]. https://voice21.org
Vygotsky, L. S. (2000). El desarrollo de los procesos psicológicos superiores [The development of higher psychological processes]. Crítica. (Original de 1934).
Wilmot, A., Boyes, M., Sievers, R., Leitão, S., & Norbury, C. (2024). Impact of DLD on mental health and well‑being across the lifespan: Qualitative study with UK adults and Australian SLTs [Impacto del TDL en la salud mental y el bienestar a lo largo del ciclo vital: Estudio cualitativo con adultos del Reino Unido y logopedas australianos]. BMJ Open, 14(10), e087532. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2024-087532
Yew, S. G. K., & O’Kearney, R. (2013). Emotional and behavioural outcomes later in childhood/adolescence for children with SLI: Meta‑analyses [Resultados emocionales y conductuales en la infancia y adolescencia para niños con TEL: Metaanálisis]. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 54(5), 516–524. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12009
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Juan Carlos Copero-Montoya
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
