MANUSCRIPT UNDER REVIEW: Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 1 Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited. LANGUAGE AND CHILD ADJUSTMENT Te acquisition of language is a fundamental aspect of early child development. However, a sizable por- tion of toddlers experience lags in language devel- opment during the frst years of life (Horwitz et al., 2003; Rescorla, Hadicke-Wiley, & Escarce, 1993), and for many of these children, early low language (LL) develops into later language, reading and academic problems during the school-age period (Rescorla, 2002; Scarborough, 1990; Snowling, Adams, Bishop, & Stothard, 2001). In addition to learning difculties, LL has also been linked to high rates of social and behavioral difculties (Beitchman, Brownlie, Inglis, Wild, & et al., 1996a; Beitchman, Wilson, Brownlie, Walters, & et al., 1996b). Despite this rather exten- sive body of research demonstrating the frequent co-occurrence of LL and behavior problems, little research has explored the factors contributing to their association. Te current study sought to advance our understanding of the relationship between early lan- guage risk and child problem behavior in two ways. Early Language Difculties and Later Behavioral Adjustment in Low-Income, High-Risk Children EMILY MOYE SKUBAN, DANIEL S. SHAW, THOMAS J. DISHION, ERIKA S. LUNKENHEIMER, FRANCES GARDNER, MELVIN WILSON ABSTRACT Background: Children with language difculties have been shown to have higher rates of emotional and behavioral problems, but less research has explored potential moderating factors on this relation- ship. Method: The sample included 731 high-risk, low income children who participated in a multisite intervention study. Families with toddlers were recruited for participation at age 2 and also seen at ages 3 and 4. Results: LL children at age 2 were seen by their caregivers as having higher rates of withdrawn behavior and emotional reactivity at the age 4 assessment. Neither positive nor negative observed par- enting was found to moderate the association between LL difculties and later behavioral adjustment. Person-centered analyses comparing children who showed a remittance of language problems from ages 2 to 4 years versus persistent language difculties showed higher rates of withdrawal, aggression, emotional reactivity and attention problems as well as poorer parenting. Conclusions: Findings suggest that while early LL may be associated with later behavioral problems, toddlers with persistent LL are par- ticularly at risk for later behavioral difculties, toddlers with persistent LL are particularly at risk for later behavioral difculties. behavioral difculties, toddlers with persistent LL are particularly at risk for later behavioral difculties. Keywords: Language delay, behavior problems, high-risk populations Using a sample of toddlers at high risk for the emer- gence of language and behavioral problems, we frst examined the association between LL and behavioral difculties at age 4. Second, we examined the possible attenuating infuence of maternal parenting, specif- cally sensitive, responsive and harsh, rejecting par- enting, in the association between language risk and problem behaviors at age 4. LL have been linked to aspects of child malad- justment, including behavioral problems and social delays. Tis association is noteworthy because of the continuity between early problem behavior and more serious forms of psychopathology in middle child- hood and adolescence. For example, externalizing symptoms characterized by hyperactivity, impulsivity, and aggression in early childhood are ofen predictive of more serious forms of antisocial behavior during middle childhood and adolescence (Aguilar, Sroufe, Egeland, & Carlson, 2000; Barkley, 1998; Moffitt, Caspi, Harrington, & Milne, 2002). Although fewer