Disentangling the causes and consequences of individual differences in language ability using longitudinal cohort data

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This project will evaluate the social value of improving language skills in early childhood by establishing how these skills are related to a variety of important life outcomes. It will consider what drives the relationships, comparing different possible causal accounts using longitudinal structural equation modelling. Two longitudinal datasets will be used; the British Cohort Study (1970 (BCS70) and the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS). The use of two cohort studies that are at different ages/developmental stages allows examination of both adult outcomes such as employment, relationship status, life satisfaction (using the older BCS70 cohort) and more immediate outcomes such as school adjustment, academic performance, peer relationships, behaviour problems and risky health behaviours (using the younger millennium cohort). Sub-groups of children with different rates of language development will be identified, to examine whether the rate at which language develops has later consequences or if there is an identifiable threshold below which language ability has an adverse impact on later life outcomes. This research will provide the first explicit measurement of the real lifetime consequences of differences in early language ability, and hence the value of intervening to improve language skills. The improved understanding that will arise from this research will allow more efficient targeted spending on the populations and developmental time points of greatest consequence.