Dificultad del lenguaje oral en la primera infancia: Implicaciones para el desarrollo socioemocional, una revisión teórica
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La adquisición temprana del lenguaje oral es esencial para el desarrollo cognitivo, autorregulatorio y social del niño (Santamarta & Arrimada, 2025; Herranz & Delgado, 2013; UNICEF, 2020). No obstante, muchos niños en edad preescolar presentan dificultades en la expresión o comprensión verbal (Norbury et al., 2016; Bishop et al., 2016; Lindsay & Strand, 2016). Esta revisión teórica analiza el impacto de tales dificultades en el desarrollo socioemocional infantil, revisando enfoques teóricos, debates y hallazgos recientes. La Introducción delimita el problema y resalta la relevancia de la primera infancia para el lenguaje y la socioemocionalidad (Sunderajan & Kanhere, 2019; Baixauli-Fortea et al., 2015; Hentges et al., 2021). El Desarrollo revisa la literatura sobre características, prevalencia y efectos de las dificultades lingüísticas en la interacción, conducta y salud emocional, además de los mecanismos explicativos (Yew & O’Kearney, 2013; Burnley et al., 2023; Curtis et al., 2018; Chow et al., 2018; Kapa & Mettler, 2021). También se abordan controversias sobre la relación lenguaje-emoción y factores contextuales o temperamentales (Redmond & Rice, 1998; Yew & O’Kearney, 2015; Samson et al., 2020). Las Conclusiones destacan que las dificultades no tratadas incrementan el riesgo de problemas socioemocionales, aunque no de manera uniforme (Yew & O’Kearney, 2013; Maggio et al., 2013; Santamarta & Arrimada, 2025), reconociendo las limitaciones actuales y la necesidad de intervenciones integrales en contextos educativos y clínicos (Brinton & Fujiki, 2005; Toseeb et al., 2020; McGregor, 2020).
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