Mathematical Skills in Children with Developmental Language Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

AbstractBackground: Language is an essential skill for learning and academic achievement; therefore, children with developmental language disorder (DLD) are at risk for learning difficulties. Previous research has indicated a higher prevalence of mathematical difficulties in children with DLD compared to control children without such difficulties. However, the extent to which DLD and mathematical difficulties co-occur, as well as the nature of the difficulties, remains unclear. Methods: We performed a meta-analysis of studies examining the mathematical skills of children with DLD compared to controls and examined moderators related to children’s age, cognitive abilities, mathematical domains, diagnostic status, and publication type. Results: Children with DLD performed approximately 1 SD (Hedges’ g = 0.93) below age-matched controls in mathematics. Group differences were moderated by the type of mathematical task, with children with DLD being more impaired in arithmetic, counting, word problems, and composite math skills than in tasks evaluating Arabic number knowledge and magnitude judgment. However, the effect size estimate was reduced when publication bias related to small samples was taken into account. Conclusion: Children with DLD perform considerably poorer than controls in mathematics and are at a high risk of mathematical difficulties. This supports the notion that these children have a complex profile of difficulties.