The effect of mental illness on language regression to the mother tongue in bilingual teenagers.
Affective disorders in children and adolescents could impair the acquisition of a second language in bilingual individuals. The acute exacerbation of a preexisting mental illness may also lead to a loss of the ability to speak the second language for a period of time and the regression to the first (native) language as the only mode of communication. The effect could be lasting since the second language seems to have a critical period of optimal acquisition and proficiency. The underlying neural mechanisms indicated that the second language was more vulnerable to the effects of mental illness than the native language.
El-Gabalawi
Fayez
F
Department of Psychiatry, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19131, USA. elgabalf@einstein.edu
Khouzam
Hani
H
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019303:Multilingualism; D011578:Psycholinguistics; D012043:Regression, Psychology; D014705:Verbal Behavior