Short report: Self-compassion and satisfaction with life in Danish adolescents with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD): `We are all in the same boat´

Abstract

Background: Adolescents with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) are at risk of emotional health problems and low self-esteem. However, little is known about their self-compassion (SC) and satisfaction with life (SWL). The present study compared self-compassion and satisfaction with life reported by Danish adolescents with DLD compared to typically developing (TD) peers, and whether severity of language difficulty is associated with SC and SWL.

Methods: Results were obtained from 10 Danish adolescents with DLD compared with 14 age-matched TD adolescents and 132 TD peers, aged 15 years.

Results: For SC and SWL results showed that adolescents with DLD reported more positive feelings compared to the TD adolescents. Interestingly for SC, the negative, but not the positive, domain differentiated the two groups, as adolescents with DLD reported less symptoms on self-judgment, isolation and overidentification. SC and SWL was strongly correlated with language abilities for the DLD group, but not for the TD group.

Conclusions: Results from our pilot study showed that Danish adolescents with DLD reported being less harsh on themselves. Language abilities were associated with self-compassion for the DLD, but not for the TD group. Whether these group differences are due to environmental factors such as the specific Danish school setting of the DLD group or internal factors are discussed and requires further research.

Keywords: Adolescents; Developmental Language Disorder (DLD); Mental health; Satisfaction with life; Self-compassion.