Developmental Language Disorders and Executive Function Skills: A Systematic Review of Studies Comparing Executive Function Skills in Children Between 4-7 Years of Age

Year 2023, , 72 - 95, 30.04.2023

Elif Erva Bektaşoğlu , Maral Yeşilyurt

https://doi.org/10.58563/dkyad-2023.61.5

Abstract

Purpose: Many children with developmental language disorders (DLD) also have difficulties in executive functions. Although the number of studies focusing on this subject has increased in the last two decades, there still is a need to investigate the difficulties experienced in executive function skills in preschool children with DLD. This review aims to examine the studies in the literature comparing the executive function skills of children between the ages of 4-7 with and without DLD, to reveal the differences between the groups, and to inform clinicians about the executive function measurement tools used.

Method: For this purpose, the systematic review procedure was prepared and reported using the PRISMA Statement. Two assessment tools, JBI Cross-sectional Studies and JBI Randomized Controlled Studies, were used to measure the methodological quality of the studies, and the PRISMA Flow Chart was followed in the selection of the studies. Seven studies that met the inclusion criteria and scored high in the methodological quality assessment were included in the review. The total number of children included in these studies were 625, 292 of whom were between the ages of 4;0-6;3 diagnosed with a developmental language disorder and 333 with typical language development.

Results: When the findings of the studies were examined, it was found that children with DLD showed lower performance on tasks measuring executive function skills than children with typical development. Children with DLD scored lower than their TD peers in both verbal and nonverbal cognitive flexibility and working memory tasks, and in verbal inhibition measures. In tasks measuring non-verbal inhibition, some studies found significant differences between groups, while others did not. Although models that want to reveal the possible relationship between language disorders and executive functions have been created, longitudinal studies examining these models are not sufficient in number. Studies published in the literature to date have compared DLD and TD children and found differences in executive function skills, but a causal relationship between language skills and executive function could not be obtained. Longitudinal studies are needed in the literature to examine the relationship between language skills and executive function.


Conclusion: This review reveals that the children with DLD experience problems in executive functions. In line with the findings of the literature, this study emphasises the importance of including executive function skills in the intervention programs provided to these children at early ages for the purpose of improving their language skills and reducing the difficulties that children may experience academically in the future.

Keywords

developmental language disorder, executive functions, cognitive flexibility, working memory, inhibition

Gelişimsel Dil Bozukluğu ve Yürütücü İşlev Becerileri: 4-7 Yaş Arası Çocuklarda Yürütücü İşlev Becerilerini Karşılaştıran Çalışmaların Sistematik Derlemesi

Abstract

Amaç: Gelişimsel dil bozukluğu (GDB) olan çocuklar dilsel becerilerinin yanı sıra, yürütücü işlevlerde de zorluklar yaşamaktadır. Son yirmi yılda, bu konuya odaklanan çalışmaların sayısı artmış olsa da, GDB’ li okul öncesi çocuklarda yürütücü işlev becerilerinde yaşanan güçlüklerin araştırılmasına halen ihtiyaç duyulmaktadır. Bu derleme, alanyazında yer alan 4-7 yaş arası GDB olan ve olmayan çocukların yürütücü işlev becerilerinin karşılaştırıldığı çalışmaları incelemeyi, gruplar arasındaki farkları ortaya koymayı ve kullanılan yürütücü işlev ölçüm araçları hakkında klinisyenlere bilgi vermeyi amaçlamaktadır.

Yöntem: Bu amaç doğrultusunda sistematik derleme prosedürü PRISMA Bildirgesi kullanılarak oluşturulmuş ve raporlanmıştır. Çalışmaların metodolojik kalitelerinin ölçümünde JBI Kesitsel Çalışmalar ve JBI Randomize Kontrollü Çalışmalar için olmak üzere iki değerlendirme aracı kullanılmış olup, çalışmaların seçilmesinde PRISMA Akış Şeması izlenmiştir. Dahil etme kriterlerini karşılayan ve metodolojik kalite değerlendirilmesinde yüksek puan alan yedi çalışma derlemeye dahil edilmiştir. Çalışmaların örneklemini 4;0-6;3 yaş arasında gelişimsel dil bozukluğu olan 292 ve tipik gelişim gösteren 333 olmak üzere toplam 625 çocuk oluşturmaktadır.

Bulgular: Çalışmaların bulguları incelendiğinde, GDB’ li çocukların, tipik gelişim gösteren çocuklara göre yürütücü işlev becerilerini ölçen görevlerde daha düşük performans gösterdiği bulunmuştur.

Sonuç: Bu derleme ile GDB yürütücü işlevlerde yaşadıkları problemler ortaya konmuştur. Alanyazın bulguları doğrultusunda, bu çocuklara erken dönemde sağlanan müdahale programlarında yürütücü işlev becerilerine yönelik uygulamalara da yer verilmesinin önemli olduğu ve çocukların ileri dönemde akademik olarak yaşayabilecekleri zorlukları azaltabileceği düşünülmektedir.

Keywords

gelişimsel dil bozukluğu, yürütücü işlevler, bilişsel esneklik, çalışma belleği, ketleme

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