Speaker: Jason C. Chow, Ph.D.

Title: Understanding contextual factors that contribute to the comorbidity of language and behavior disorders

Abstract: Although there is a substantial body of research suggesting that language and behavior are related, we know less about contextual factors that may influence their association. Some of the contributors to the strength of the relation between language and behavior or prevalence of the overlap between language and behavior disorders that I have been exploring are teacher-level factors (characteristics of teacher's talk, classroom management) and measurement (how we measure constructs of interest).  We will talk about a recent line of work aimed at better understanding how peer friendships (classroom networks) are associated with language and behavioral development and discuss what are some ways we can continue to advance our understanding of language and behavior to develop practices and interventions to support children early and effectively.