title: Emotional and behavioural problems in children with language impairments and children with autism spectrum disorders.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although it is well-established that children with language impairment (LI) and children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) both show elevated levels of emotional and behavioural problems, the level and types of difficulties across the two groups have not previously been directly compared.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To compare levels of emotional and behavioural problems in children with LI and children with ASD recruited from the same mainstream schools.
  
  
  METHODS
  We measured teacher-reported emotional and behavioural problems using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) in a sample of 5-13-year-old children with LI (N = 62) and children with ASD (N = 42) attending mainstream school but with identified special educational needs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Both groups showed similarly elevated levels of emotional, conduct and hyperactivity problems. The only differences between the LI and ASD groups were on subscales assessing peer problems (which were higher in the ASD group) and prosocial behaviours (which were higher in the LI group). Overall, there were few associations between emotional and behavioural problems and child characteristics, reflecting the pervasive nature of these difficulties in children with LI and children with ASD, although levels of problems were higher in children with ASD with lower language ability. However, in the ASD group only, a measure of family social economic status was associated with language ability and attenuated the association between language ability and emotional and behavioural problems.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Children with LI and children with ASD in mainstream school show similarly elevated levels of emotional and behavioural problems, which require monitoring and may benefit from intervention. Further work is required to identify the child, family and situational factors that place children with LI and children with ASD at risk of emotional and behavioural problems, and whether these differ between the two groups. This work can then guide the application of evidence-based interventions to these children.
authors.affiliation: King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, Department of Psychology, London, UK.
authors.forename: Tony
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Charman
authors.forename: Jessie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ricketts
authors.forename: Julie E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Dockrell
authors.forename: Geoff
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lindsay
authors.forename: Olympia
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Palikara
mesh_terms: D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D015897:Comorbidity; D004519:Education, Special; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007805:Language Development Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D007807:Language Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008282:Mainstreaming, Education; D008297:Male; D011594:Psychometrics; D012016:Reference Values; D012919:Social Behavior; D013223:Statistics as Topic
keywords: autism spectrum disorders; emotional and behavioural problems; language impairment; mental health