The relationship between communication and behaviour in children: a case for public mental health?
| Pages | 4-10 |
| Date | 10 July 2009 |
| Published date | 10 July 2009 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/17465729200900002 |
| Author | James Law,Lawrie Elliott |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care |
This paper examines the overlap between two groups of children, those with speech,language and
communication needs (SLCN) and those with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD).
The case is made that these are common and overlap, with serious consequences for the children
and families concerned.The difficulties experienced by the children and their families have implications
for health inequalities and should influence theway in which both child and adolescent mental health
and public health services are conceptualised and delivered.
The relationship between
communication and
behaviour in children: a case
for public mental health?
James Law
Professor of Language
and Communication
Science
Director,Centre for
Integrated Healthcare
Research
Queen Margaret
University
Lawrie Elliott
Centre for Integrated
Healthcare Research
Napier University
Edinburgh
Correspondence to:
James Law
Professor of Language
and Communication
Science
Director,Centre for
Integrated Healthcare
Research
Queen Margaret
University
Edinburgh EH21 6UU
Email:jlaw@qmu.ac.uk
ANALYSIS
4journalof public mental health
vol8 • issue 1
What do we mean by SLCN and SEBD?
Spe ech , lan gua ge an d com mun ica tio n nee ds
(SLCN)1usually pres ents in the preschool per iod.
They are c haract erised by a s low deve lopmen t of
speech and language. Children v ary in the pattern
of dif ficu lties tha t pres ent an d thi s patt ern m ay
chan ge ac ros s time . Dif ficu lti es ar e dete rmi ned
relative to other children and in terms of the child’s
ability to communicate eitherwhat they need to say
or what is required of them in the school or n ursery
setting. The number of children with S LCN varies
acc ord ing t o the c rit eri a ado pte d, bu t the b est
established prevalence data sugge sts that the figure
is of th e orde r of 7% in c hild ren at s choo l ent ry
(Tomblin et al, 1997), but this figure may be much
higher in socially disadvantagedpopulations (Locke
et al, 200 2). Chil dren with s ocial, e motion al and
behavioural difficulties (SEBD)2pre sen t a
considerable challengefor society as a whole and for
sch ool s in pa rti cul ar (E duc ati on In sti tut e of
Scotland, 2003). They have very high rates of
school exclusion (Scottish Execu tive, 2007) and of
ref err al to m ent al he alt h ser vic es (S cot tis h
Executi ve, 2005) . Althoug h childre n with SEB D
may be iden tified in t he presc hool year s, it is not
usually until they go into primary sc hool that they
start to be identified a s needing support in scho ol.
Like those with SLCN, these children are classified
in a number of ways according to the measu res and
the cut points adopted, but a common distinction is
dra wn be twe en ch ild ren w ho ar e agg res siv e,
overacti ve and diffi cult to cont rol (ie. tho se with
‘externalising’ difficulties) and those who present as
being with drawn, anx ious and neur otic (ie. th ose
with ‘internalising’ difficulties). Again, the number
of these children is high. In his 2007 annua l report,
the Chi ef Medi cal Off icer in Sc otlan d indic ated
that as many as 10% of children and adolescents are
lik ely to h ave a m ent al he alt h dif fic ulty t hat i s
suf fic ien tly s eve re to a ffe ct th em on a d ail y
basis (Scottish Execut ive, 2007). The significa nce
of SE BD is a cce ntu ate d by th e imp act t hat
the se ch ild ren m ay ha ve on t he de liv ery o f
the curriculum.
What is the overlap between SLCN
and SEBD?
One area that has attracted considerable attenti on
in the literature has been the high levels of overlap
betwee n SEBD and SLCN. Fo r example, ther e is
©Pavilion Journals (Br ighton) Ltd
Keywords
SLCN
SEBD
communication needs
behavioural difficulties
public health
interventions
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