title: Change in receptive vocabulary from childhood to adulthood: associated mental health, education and employment outcomes.
abstract: Population-based studies have found that early language delays are associated with poorer long-term outcomes in adolescence and adulthood. Few studies have explored the influence of change in language ability over time on adult outcomes.
  
  
  
  To examine the educational, vocational and mental health outcomes for adults accounting for different vocabulary developmental profiles over a 16-year period.
  
  
  
  A total of 1914 participants of the Mater-University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy (MUSP) were categorized into four groups based on their vocabulary skills at 5 and 21 years: (1) persistently good (n = 1679), (2) persistently poor (n = 33), (3) improved (n = 160), and (4) deteriorated (n = 42). The associations between vocabulary group and educational, vocational, and mental health outcomes at 21 years were investigated.
  
  
  
  Adults with deteriorated and persistently poor vocabulary skills were less likely to have completed secondary school; with the improved, deteriorated and persistently poor groups being less likely to be engaged in education, employment or training at the 21-year follow-up, compared with the persistently good group. Adults with deteriorated performance were at an increased risk of affective disorders, as well as substance and alcohol abuse/misuse.
  
  
  
  These findings provide evidence that impaired vocabulary skills in adulthood, regardless of whether the deficit was acquired early or later, are associated with adverse outcomes. Clinicians and educators need to be aware of these adversities and ensure they are supporting children and adolescents in whom language difficulties exist or emerge so as to prevent poor long-term outcomes from occurring.
authors.affiliation: The University of Queensland, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, St Lucia, QLD, Australia.|The University of Queensland, Centre for Clinical Research, Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, Herston, QLD, Australia.|The University of Queensland, Centre for Advanced Imaging, St Lucia, QLD, Australia.
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Armstrong
authors.affiliation: The University of Queensland, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, St Lucia, QLD, Australia.|Hear and Say Centre, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
authors.forename: Wendy
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Arnott
authors.affiliation: The University of Queensland, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, St Lucia, QLD, Australia.|The University of Queensland, Centre for Clinical Research, Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, Herston, QLD, Australia.
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Copland
authors.affiliation: The University of Queensland, Centre for Advanced Imaging, St Lucia, QLD, Australia.
authors.forename: Katie
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: McMahon
authors.affiliation: The University of Queensland, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, St Lucia, QLD, Australia.
authors.forename: Asaduzzaman
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.affiliation: The University of Queensland, Schools of Public Health and Social Science, St Lucia, QLD, Australia.
authors.forename: Jake M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Najman
authors.affiliation: The University of Queensland, Centre for Clinical Research, Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, Herston, QLD, Australia.|Metro North Mental Health, The Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, Herston, QLD, Australia.
authors.forename: James G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Scott
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D002663:Child Language; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004522:Educational Status; D004651:Employment; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007805:Language Development Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D000074286:Preliminary Data; D011793:Queensland / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D013997:Time Factors; D014825:Vocabulary; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: MUSP; PPVT-R; language trajectories; long-term outcomes; preschool