Effect of Language Therapy Alone for Developmental Language Disorder in Children: A Meta-Analysis

Frontiers in Psychology

Fan, S., Ma, B., et al. (2022).

Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 922866.

This systematic review and meta-analysis investigates the effects of language therapy for children with developmental language disorder.

No funding received

Not specified

Randomized control trials

18

The following immediate effects were noted in expressive language outcomes following language interventions for children with developmental language disorder:<br /> <ul> <li>There was a significant, positive effect on overall expressive language (SMD= 0.46, 95% CI= 0.12 to 0.80), however, heterogeneity was noted in these outcomes.</li> <li>There was a significant, positive effect on mean length of utterance (SMD= 2.16, 95% CI= 0.39 to 3.93), number of utterances (SMD= 0.52, 95% CI= 0.21 to 0.84), overall expressive vocabulary development (SMD= 0.43, 95% CI= 0.17 to 0.69), different words used in a language samples (SMD= 0.62, 95% CI= 0.35 to 0.88), and parent reports of expressive phrase complexity (SMD= 1.24, 95% CI= 0.78 to 1.70).&nbsp;</li> <li>There was no significant effects regarding expressive grammar ability, expressive phonological development, or parent reports of vocabulary. However, heterogeneity was noted in these outcomes.</li> <li>Significant improvements in overall expressive language development was noted for both parent-guided (SMD= 1.12, 95% CI= 0.03 to 2.20) and clinician-guided interventions (SMD= 0.23, 95% CI= 0.03 to 0.43).&nbsp;</li> <li>No significant effect was seen for expressive anguage development at follow-up (i.e., 3.5 to 18 months post-treatment) within a limited number of studies.&nbsp;</li> </ul> No significant effect was noted for overall receptive language development. This was true for both parent-guided and clinician-guided interventions. Results should be interpreted with caution due to small sample sizes and heterogeneity between included studies. Further research is indicated.