Adolescents with Developmental Language Disorders (DLD) often have academic difficulties, experience limited vocational opportunities, and are potentially more likely to be incarcerated. This review sought to determine how DLD is defined and evaluated in the current literature and if this differs in studies specifically concerning incarcerated adolescents. This review also aimed to discern if and how the current research literature considers comorbid disorders when studying these populations. The search for this review was conducted in ComDisDome and yielded 24 eligible articles. The results indicate that the current literature does not have a consistent way of defining or testing for DLD, and the majority of the articles reviewed did not consider co-existing conditions in their populations of study. More research with consistent assessment and diagnostic methods and thorough consideration of comorbidity is necessary to accurately determine the prevalence of DLD in incarcerated populations. An accurate estimate of the prevalence of DLD in these populations could allow for policy changes regarding the provision of services for incarcerated adolescents and early intervention for at-risk youth
