Evaluation Video

Oral Presentation

Clinical Practice (assessment, diagnosis, treatment, knowledge translation/EBP, implementation science, program development)

Promising effects of socioemotional skills training in bilingual children with attention and behavioral concerns

Wednesday, November 9, 2022

3:55 PM – 4:11 PM

Presenting Author(s)

Aya I. Williams

Postdoctoral Scholar
University of California, San Francisco
Redwood City, California, United States

Slides
Ashley Chung-Fat-Yim, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow
Northwestern University, Illinois, United States

Non-presenting Author(s)

VM

Viorica Marian

Sundin Endowed Professor
Northwestern University, United States
LP

Linda Pfiffner

Professor
University of California, San Francisco, United States
LH

Lauren Haack

Associate Professor
University of California, San Francisco, United States

To investigate the role of language in treatment delivery, the present study examined the effect of second language use on socioemotional skills in bilingual children with attention and/or behavioral concerns. A two-level cluster randomized controlled design accounted for treatment [Collaborative Life Skills (CLS) versus control] across 23 elementary schools. In addition, four schools received treatment in Spanish and English.Students were referred to the program by school staff for substantial inattention, hyperactivity/impulsivity, and/or related academic/social problems. We conducted secondary data analyses on 120 monolingual and 37 bilingual children (Grades 2-5, 28% girls, 35% Latinx, 23% White, 18% Asian, 17% multiracial, 8% Black). A mixed effects model revealed a treatment (CLS, control) by language status (bilingual, monolingual) interaction. A greater reduction in parent-reported impairment was found for bilingual children compared to monolingual children.Socioemotional skills appear to especially benefit bilingual children with attentional and behavioral concerns.

Learning Objectives:

Describe the relations between bilingualism and cognitive/socioemotional processing
Test effectiveness of empirically-supported treatments for ADHD
Identify barriers and health disparities faced by bilingual children and families