The role of socioeconomic and sociocultural predictors of Spanish and English proficiencies of young Latino children of immigrants.

Young Latino children of immigrants typically speak primarily Spanish at home and are exposed to varying amounts of English. As a result, they often enter school with a wide range of proficiencies in each language. The current study investigated family background, language use at home and early childhood settings as predictors of Spanish and English language proficiencies among Latino dual language children (N = 228). Findings demonstrated divergent sets of predictors were associated with either Spanish or English proficiencies at kindergarten and second grade. Sociocultural variables (parent origin, gender, home language use, home literacy practices, and language use in early childhood settings) predicted children's Spanish proficiency, while socioeconomic variables (poverty, and maternal and paternal education) predicted children's English proficiency, with little to no overlap in these predictions. These results suggest that different supports are required for proficiency in Spanish and in English, highlighting the importance of sociocultural and socioeconomic factors.

Dual language profiles of Latino children of immigrants: Stability and change over the early school years.

Dual language children enter school with varying levels of proficiencies in their first and second language. This study of Latino children of immigrants (N = 163) analyzes their dual language profiles at kindergarten and second grade, derived from the direct assessment of Spanish and English proficiencies (Woodcock Language Proficiency Batteries-Revised). Children were grouped based on the similarity of language profiles (competent profiles, such as dual proficient, Spanish proficient, and English proficient; and low-performing profiles, including borderline proficient and limited proficient). At kindergarten, the majority of children (63%) demonstrated a low-performing profile; by second grade, however, the majority of children (64%) had competent profiles. Change and stability of language profiles over time of individual children were then analyzed. Of concern, are children who continued to demonstrate a low-performing, high-risk profile. Factors in the linguistic environments at school and home, as well as other family and child factors associated with dual language profiles and change/stability over time were examined, with a particular focus on the persistently low-performing profile groups.

Practice parameter for cultural competence in child and adolescent psychiatric practice.

The United States faces a rapidly changing demographic and cultural landscape, with its population becoming increasingly multiracial and multicultural. In consequence, cultural and racial factors relating to mental illness and emotional disturbances deserve closer attention and consideration. This Practice Parameter outlines clinical applications of the principle of cultural competence that will enable child and adolescent mental health clinicians to better serve diverse children, adolescents, and their families.

Cross-Sectional Study of Unmet Mental Health Need in 5- to 7-Year Old Latino Children in the United States: Do Teachers and Parents Make a Difference in Service Utilization?

The aim of the study is to examine the rates of mental health service utilization in young Latino children of immigrants in relation to maternal and teacher reports of child mental health need. Specific knowledge is lacking about gaps in service utilization among young Latino children, the fastest growing and possibly the most underserved segment of the US child population. The associations of mental health service utilization (Service Assessment for Children and Adolescents) and mental health need (clinical levels of internalizing, externalizing, or total problems reported by mothers [Child Behavior Checklist] and teachers [Teacher's Report Form]) were examined in a community sample of young Latino children of immigrants (n = 228; mean age = 6) and compared across mothers' and teachers' responses. Mother-teacher agreement was also studied. Sixty-five children (28.5 %) had a mental health need; most (76.9 %) of these received no services. For all types of mental health need, service utilization was more likely when need was reported by mothers rather than teachers (p = .03). Teachers' reports were not associated with service utilization. Mother-teacher agreement was low for externalizing (r = .23; p ≤ 0.01) and total problems (r = .21; p ≤ 0.05), and nonsignificant for internalizing problems. This study is the first in the United States to document, in such a young Latino group, high rates of unmet need comparable to those among older Latino youth; low or no mother-teacher agreement on which children had a mental health need; low utilization of school-based services; and a lack of association between service utilization and teacher-reported mental health need-both for externalizing and internalizing problems. These findings suggest that schools are not effectively leveraging mental health services for young Latino children. Potential factors responsible for the findings are discussed.

Little evidence that time in child care causes externalizing problems during early childhood in Norway.

Associations between maternal reports of hours in child care and children's externalizing problems at 18 and 36 months of age were examined in a population-based Norwegian sample (n = 75,271). Within a sociopolitical context of homogenously high-quality child care, there was little evidence that high quantity of care causes externalizing problems. Using conventional approaches to handling selection bias and listwise deletion for substantial attrition in this sample, more hours in care predicted higher problem levels, yet with small effect sizes. The finding, however, was not robust to using multiple imputation for missing values. Moreover, when sibling and individual fixed-effects models for handling selection bias were used, no relation between hours and problems was evident.

Language, culture, and adaptation in immigrant children.

In this article the authors discuss first why it is crucial, from a clinical and public health perspective, to better understand the development as well as risk and protection processes for the mental health of immigrant children. The authors then shift focus to the main tenet of this article, namely, that specific aspects of the dual language development of immigrant children are highly relevant to their mental health and adaptation. This argument is illustrated with empirical studies on Latino immigrant children, as they represent the majority of immigrant children in America and as a way of exemplifying the risks and circumstances that are potentially shared by other immigrant groups. Finally, the authors conceptually differentiate dual language development and its mental health impact from the dual-culture (bicultural) development and circumstance of immigrant children and their mental health impact.

Bilingual children: cross-sectional relations of psychiatric syndrome severity and dual language proficiency.

The severity of child psychiatric disorders is commonly associated with child language delays. However, the characteristics of these associations in the fast-growing population of bilingual children remain unknown. To begin to address this gap, we studied a unique sample of Spanish-English bilingual children with significant parent-reported psychopathology (n = 29), focusing on their language proficiencies and psychiatric severity using the Child Behavior Check List. We present cross-sectional analyses of associations of general and specific language proficiency in Spanish and English with the severity of specific psychiatric syndromes. We found Spanish language-proficiency scores to have negative correlations with a wide range of psychiatric symptoms, particularly externalizing (i.e., delinquency and aggression) symptoms (r = -.38 to -.61, p < or = .05). English scores were similarly associated. Dual language tests covering multiple specific language dimensions explained a large proportion (51%) of overall variance in aggression symptoms and also important proportions (40%) of total and attentional symptoms. While children's proficiency levels in both Spanish and English showed similar associations with the symptom severity measures (explaining close to 20% of the symptom variance; r(sp) = -.44, p < .01), these proficiency levels explain nonconverging variance in children's symptomatology. The findings suggest that clinical evaluation of language functioning is often needed in such populations and that it should be comprehensive and include both languages. Such thorough evaluation of bilingual children suffering from psychopathology will help us to precisely identify (1) language deficits, (2) specific relations of these deficits to the child's psychopathology, (3) differential implications of communication at home (e.g., in Spanish) and at school (e.g., in English) for clinical presentation and the child's competence in those differing contexts, and (4) language of choice for therapy, evaluation, and educational services. The findings are discussed in the context of clinical and conceptual implications and future research needs.

Spanish-English Bilingual Children with Psychopathology: Language Deficits and Academic Language Proficiency.

BACKGROUND: The aim was to study the language profiles of a well-characterised sample (n = 50) of Spanish-English bilingual children consecutively referred to psychiatric services. METHODS: Spanish and English language profiles were assessed with the Woodcock Language Proficiency Battery-Revised (WLPB). Profiles included language ability levels, deficits and dominance in five expressive and receptive/expressive domains, and academic (school-related) language proficiency levels. RESULTS: General language ability was low for 69% in either language and for 51% in both. Language dominance data suggested that expressive skills were dominant in English. In 73% of the children, ability to function at school in the strongest language is 'limited', defined by the WLPB as incorrect responses to 50% of the items typically answered correctly by children of the same age. Classroom language demands, also according to the WLPB, would be 'extremely difficult' to 'impossible' for 40% of the children in at least one language, and for 19% in either language. CONCLUSIONS: Language deficits, present in many psychiatrically-referred bilingual children, ought to be suspected by the clinician. The typical language demands of schooling appear to be overwhelming for many of these children, with ensuing implications for psychosocial adaptation and educational attainment. Thorough language ability assessments of both languages are often necessary for the early detection of language deficits and for understanding how dual language abilities relate to psychiatric symptoms. Therefore, language assessment services need to be closely linked to programs serving psychiatrically-referred bilingual children. Other implications of this research for clinical practice are discussed.

Bilingual children referred for psychiatric services: associations of language disorders, language skills, and psychopathology.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate (1) the prevalence of language deficits and disorders and (2) the relationship of bilingual language skills and psychopathology, in Spanish-English bilingual children referred for child and adolescent psychiatry services. METHOD: Bilingual language skills, emotional/behavioral problems, sociodemographics, immigration variables, and nonverbal IQ were studied in 50 consecutively referred children. RESULTS: Estimated prevalence was high for language deficits (48%) and disorders (41%), with most cases (>79%) being of the mixed receptive-expressive type. In children with clinically significant emotional/behavioral problems, bilingual language skills were strongly and inversely correlated with problem scores, particularly global problems (r = -0.67, p < .001); social, thought, and attention problems (r > or = -0.54; p < .004); delinquency (r = -0.66, p < .001); and aggression (r = -0.52, p < .01). These correlations remained significant after IQ adjustment. CONCLUSIONS: Prior findings from monolingual children were confirmed in this bilingual sample, namely (1) the high prevalence of mixed receptive-expressive and other language disorders and delays and (2) the close tie between poor language skills and emotional/behavioral problems. The data strongly suggest the clinical importance and feasibility of language assessment and the significance of receptive problems in bilingual children referred for psychiatric services. A safe approach is to fully assess language skills, rather than misattributing these children's language delays to normal bilingual acquisition processes.