Mariam Abbasi, Emma Green, Heather Henderson

Introduction Measures

Social Development Lab, Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo

Associations Between Shyness and Language Development Over Middle Childhood

Shyness in children was not associated with language, however, the broader construct of social skills was found to be lower in children higher in shyness, at 7 and 8.

Results of our study suggest that there are two potential pathways to language improvement :1. Cognitive pathway:• Better receptive language at 7 predicted

better language at 8 across all of the measures.

2. Social pathway: • When receptive language was taken into

consideration, social skills at 7 predicted better expressive and pragmatic language at 8.

• This is interesting because this indicates that children’s ability to engage with a social world and interact with others effectively influences how well they will perform on these more social forms of language (expressive and pragmatics).

These findings imply that not all language abilities are cognitive. In fact, there are independent factors from a child’s day-to-day experience and temperament that will lead to variable outcomes.

Shyness - discomfort/awkwardness in social

situations1

● Correlated with a variety of social behaviors

including social anxiety, social withdrawal and

inhibition towards novel people and contexts2

Receptive language – all the words a child

understands3

Expressive language – consists of the words

children express and use every day3

Pragmatic language skills – following the rules of

conversation, knowing how to change use of

language for different purposes and altering

language based on who the listener is and the

situation4

How do children’s social abilities impact

language development in childhood?

● Shyness associated with lower scores on both

expressive and receptive language measures

in preschoolers5

● In unfamiliar situations, shy children will

converse less than non-shy peers. In familiar

situations, however, shy children converse as

much as their non-shy peers6.

Hypothesis

1. Receptive language abilities at age 7 will predict later language abilities at age 8

2. Social skills will improve children’s language abilities over time, over and above the effects of earlier receptive language

Participants were 91 7-year olds (mean age=

7.30 years, SD= 0.30) recruited as part of a

short-term longitudinal study; 71 participants

returned for an 8-year assessment (mean

age= 8.35 years, SD= 0.30)

Participants

Child Behaviour Questionnaire7

● 94-item parent-report measure with 7-point Likert scale

Shyness subscale (6 items; higher average = higher

shyness)

Results

Research funded by SSHRC Insight Grant 435-2016-0494 (PI Henderson)

References1. Cheek et al., 1981

2. Cheung & Elliott, 2017

3. Taylor et al., 2013

4. Prutting & Kirchner, 1987

5. Spere et al., 2004

6. Asendorpf & Meier, 1993

7. Rothbart et al., 2004

8. Reynolds & Kamphaus, 2015

9. Dunn & Dunn, 1997

10. Carrow-Woolfolk, 1999

Discussion

Future Directions

Examine how the interplay of expressive/pragmatic language abilities and social skills affects real-world peer-to-peer communication in children and how these may affect long-term development.

Receptive (7 & 8 year)

● Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test via NIH Toolbox9

○ 4 images presented via iPad followed by an audio

presentation of a word. Participant selects image

that matches word. ~ 25 items; higher total score =

greater receptive vocabulary

Expressive (8 year)

● Comprehensive Assessment of Spoken Language-

Second Edition10 - Expressive Language subtest

○ Direct assessment measure consisting of 71 items,

free response to verbally presented fill-in-the-blank

question; higher total raw score = greater

expressive vocabulary

Shyness

Language

Social Skills

Behaviour Assessment System for Children (BASC – 3rd

ed )8

• 175-item parent-report measure with 4-point Likert

scale Social skills subscale (10 items; higher total

score = higher rate of social skills)

Pragmatic (8 year)

● Comprehensive Assessment of Spoken Language-

Second Edition10 - Pragmatic Language subtest

○ Direct assessment measure consisting of 56 items,

free response to verbally presented hypothetical

scenarios; higher total raw score = greater

pragmatic language knowledge

Receptive language (7) and social skills (7) predicting

language at 8 yearsβ F df R2

Receptive language (8 year)

Overall 9.78*** 2, 68 .68

Receptive language (7 year) .46***

Social skills (7 year) .05

Expressive language (8 year)

Overall 20.73*** 2,65 .002

Receptive language (7 year) .62***

Social skills (7 year) .41**

Pragmatic language (8 year)

Overall 7.39** 2,66 .04

Receptive language (7 year) .44**

Social skills (7 year) .32*

Note: * = p <.05; ** = p <.01; *** = p <.001

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Shyness (7 year)

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Shyness (8 year)

r(91)=-.321,

p =.002

r(69)=-.252,

p =.037

Fig 1. Association between shyness and social skills

at 7 years

Fig 2. Association between shyness and social skills

at 8 years