Logo image
Back
Characterizing language skills among individuals with Down syndrome: the role of biomedical and contextual factors and identification of subgroups using community detection analysis
Dissertation

Characterizing language skills among individuals with Down syndrome: the role of biomedical and contextual factors and identification of subgroups using community detection analysis

Hannah Elizabeth Grosman
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Drexel University
Jun 2026
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/00011454
pdf
Grosman_Hannah_20266.92 MB
PDF Embargoed Access, Embargo ends: 30 Jun 2028

Abstract

ADHD Area deprivation index Community detection analysis Language Sleep Down Syndrome
Individuals with Down syndrome (DS) demonstrate substantial heterogeneity in language functioning, though factors contributing to this variability remain poorly understood. Guided by the World Health Organization's biopsychosocial framework of disability, the present study examined biomedical and contextual correlates of structural and pragmatic language skills and identified language-based subgroups in children and adults with DS. Participants included 95 adults and 87 children and adolescents with DS. Structural and pragmatic language skills were assessed using caregiver-report communication measures alongside indices of ADHD symptomatology, sleep difficulties, adaptive functioning, and socioeconomic context. Regression analyses and bivariate associations examined relationships between these factors and language outcomes. Community Detection Analysis (CDA) was used to identify subgroups characterized by distinct language profiles. Across samples, greater ADHD symptomatology was associated with weaker language functioning, with the most consistent associations observed for adult structural and pragmatic language and child pragmatic language. CDA methods identified two language communities in both adults and children, supporting heterogeneity in both the severity and profiles of language functioning in DS. Adult communities reflected differing patterns of relative structural and pragmatic language strengths and weaknesses, whereas child communities primarily differed in the severity of structural language difficulties. Findings highlight substantial variability in language functioning in DS and the importance of considering biomedical and contextual factors when characterizing language outcomes.

Metrics

1 Record Views

Details

Logo image