title: Language development and its relation to social behavior and family and school environments: a systematic review.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To conduct a systematic review of the literature on the relationship between language development, social behavior, and family and school environments in children aged 4 to 6 years.
  
  
  METHODS
  Papers published between March 2009 and March 2014 were searched in electronic databases. The first phase of the study consisted in preparing the guiding question. Subsequently, survey and selection of studies were conducted. To this end, descriptors were defined by groups of themes.
  
  
  METHODS
  The following types of publications were included in the search: complete scientific articles available in full and freely and original research papers or literature reviews published in the past five years covering the 4 to 6-year age range.
  
  
  METHODS
  The analysis of the papers was conducted through critical reading and selection of the results that responded to the guiding question.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fourteen articles were selected. Most of the studies used at least one standardized instrument. Research indicates that the family environment is related to language development, mainly regarding socioeconomic status and parental education; number of adults who live with the child; parental health; language motivation; and interaction between parents and children. Only one article showed association between quality of the school environment and language development, and none showed evidence of an association between social behavior and language development.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Most of the studies analyzed focus on the relationship between family environment and language development. Very few studies with this approach are available in the specific literature.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais - UFMG - Belo Horizonte (MG), Brasil.|Núcleo de Apoio à Saúde da Família, Prefeitura Municipal de Belo Horizonte - Belo Horizonte (MG), Brasil.
authors.forename: Amanda de Jesus Alvarenga
authors.initials: Ade J
authors.lastname: Carvalho
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais - UFMG - Belo Horizonte (MG), Brasil.
authors.forename: Stela Maris Aguiar
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Lemos
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais - UFMG - Belo Horizonte (MG), Brasil.
authors.forename: Lúcia Maria Horta de Figueiredo
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Goulart
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002663:Child Language; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005195:Family Relations; D006801:Humans; D007804:Language Development; D007806:Language Disorders / Q000209:etiology; D012919:Social Behavior; D013066:Speech-Language Pathology