Developmental Process of Joint Attention Behavior in Young Children With Delays in Language or Social Ability

The present study examined the developmental process of joint attention behavior in young children with delays in language or social ability. From when the children were 8 months old until they were 18 months old, their caregivers answered questionnaires every other month regarding the children's joint attention behavior. When the children were 18 months old, their communication development was assessed, and then they were divided into 3 groups: (a) those with language delay (LD; 95 children), those with social ability delay (SD; 32 children), and those with typical development (TD group; 1,528 children). Joint attention behavior and other variables were assessed, and the effects examined by 2-way ANOVA. Significant differences among the 3 groups were found in the development of joint attention behavior even before their first birthday. The social ability delay group showed significant differences in all item groups, compared with the children with typical development. However, the children with language delay did not show significant differences in the item groups concerned with the understanding of others' intentions. These results suggest that the development of joint attention behavior in the children with language delay was similar, although delayed, to that in the children developing typically, whereas the children with delays in social abilities did not acquire joint attention behavior to the same extent, even as they got older.