Predicting adult-age mental health with childhood reading and math disability: do resilience and coping styles matter?

We studied the associations between childhood-identified learning disabilities and adult-age mental health and whether adult-age reading and math skills, coping styles, or resilience influenced the associations. The participants were 159 Finnish adults (60.4% males). Of them, 48 (30%) had a reading disability (RD), 22 (14%) had a math disability (MD), 21 (13%) had RD + MD identified in childhood, and 68 (43%) were population-based controls, matched based on gender, age, and place of residence. At ages 20-40 (Mage = 29), they reported their mental health, coping styles, and resilience, and their reading and math skills were assessed. The hierarchical regression analyses, predicting mental health with RD, MD, and their interaction while controlling for gender and age, indicated that childhood MD predicted the occurrence of more mental health problems in adulthood, but this was not observed in the case of RD. The RDxMD positive interaction effect reflected better mental health in both the RD and the RD + MD groups than in the MD group. Controlling for adult-age reading and math skills had no effect on the association between MD and mental health outcomes while controlling for resilience and coping styles diminished the impact of MD. Strong resilience without the use of an emotion-oriented coping may thus alleviate the association between MD and mental health. As childhood MD can have long-term associations with mental health problems, these issues need to be addressed in school, at work, and in healthcare. Based on our findings, strengthening effective coping and resilience may be one avenue of support.

A Register Study Suggesting Homotypic and Heterotypic Comorbidity Among Individuals With Learning Disabilities

The present study examined whether learning disabilities (LD) in reading and/or math (i.e., reading disability [RD], math disability [MD], and RD+MD) co-occur with other diagnoses. The data comprised a clinical sample (n = 430) with LD identified in childhood and a sample of matched controls (n = 2,140). Their medical diagnoses (according to the International Classification of Diseases nosology) until adulthood (20-39 years) were analyzed. The co-occurrence of LD with neurodevelopmental disorders was considered a homotypic comorbidity, and co-occurrence with disorders or diseases from the other diagnostic categories (i.e., mental and behavioral disorders, diseases of the nervous system, injuries, other medical or physical diagnoses) was considered a heterotypic comorbidity. Both homotypic and heterotypic comorbidity were more common in the LD group. Co-occurring neurodevelopmental disorders were the most prominent comorbid disorders, but mental and behavioral disorders, diseases of the nervous system, and injuries were also pronounced in the LD group. Accumulation of diagnoses across the diagnostic categories was more common in the LD group. No differences were found among the RD, MD, and RD+MD subgroups. The findings are relevant from the theoretical perspective, as well as for clinical and educational practice, as they provide understanding regarding individual distress and guiding for the planning of support.

Developmental profiles of arithmetic fluency skills from grades 1 to 9 and their early identification

The aim of the present study was to examine the kinds of developmental profiles of arithmetic fluency skills that can be identified across Grades 1-9 (ages 7-16) in a large Finnish sample (n = 2,518). The study also examined whether membership in the developmental profiles could be predicted using a comprehensive set of kindergarten-age factors, including information on cognitive skills; motivational, parental, and home environment factors; and gender. Four profiles of arithmetic fluency skills development were identified using a factor mixture model: persistent arithmetic difficulties (12.23%), precocious onset (50.24%), delayed onset (36.96%), and precocious onset with a Grade 7 drop (.06%). The Cholesky models predicting membership in the three largest profiles suggested that overall, the strongest kindergarten-age predictors were cognitive skills (especially counting, number concepts, spatial relations, rapid automatized naming [RAN], phonological awareness, and letter knowledge), but motivational, parental, and home environment factors were also significant. Membership in the profile with precocious onset was predicted by most of the kindergarten-age measures, suggesting that the strengths in early skills, as well as motivational, parental, and home environment factors, are reflected in the advanced start in arithmetic development at school. The profiles with delayed onset and persistent difficulties were similar in most kindergarten-age measures but differed in task avoidance and four cognitive skills (letter knowledge, counting, number concepts, and RAN), suggesting that these factors predict differential development over the longer term. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

The development and cross-national validation of the short health literacy for school-aged children (HLSAC-5) instrument

Health literacy is an asset for and indicator of adolescents' health and wellbeing, and should therefore be monitored and addressed across countries. This study aimed to develop and validate a shorter version of the original 10-item health literacy for school-aged children instrument in a cross-national context, using data from the health behaviour in school-aged children 2017/18 survey. The data were obtained from 25 425 adolescents (aged 13 and 15 years) from seven European countries. Determination was made of the best item combination to form a shorter version of the health literacy instrument. Thereafter, the structural validity, reliability, measurement invariance, and criterion validity of the new 5-item instrument were examined. Confirmatory factor analysis showed a good model fit to the data across countries and in the total sample, confirming the structural validity (CFI = 0.995, TLI = 0.989, SRMR = 0.011, RMSEA = 0.031). The internal consistency of the instrument was at a good level across countries (α = 0.87-0.98), indicating that the instrument provided reliable scores. Configural and metric invariance was established across genders, ages, and countries. Scalar invariance was achieved for age and gender groups, but not between countries. This indicated that the factor structure of the scale was similar, but that there were differences between the countries in health literacy levels. Regarding criterion validity, structural equation modelling showed a positive association between health literacy and self-rated health in all the participating countries. The new instrument was found to be valid and reliable for the purposes of measuring health literacy among adolescents in a cross-national context.

Predictors of outcome after a time-limited psychosocial intervention for adolescent depression

Research on the predictors of outcome for early, community-based, and time-limited interventions targeted for clinical depression in adolescents is still scarce. We examined the role of demographic, psychosocial, and clinical variables as predictors of outcome in a trial conducted in Finnish school health and welfare services to identify factors associating to symptom reduction and remission after a brief depression treatment. A total of 55 12–16-year-olds with mild to moderate depression received six sessions of either interpersonal counseling for adolescents (IPC-A) or brief psychosocial support (BPS). Both interventions resulted in clinical improvement at end of treatment and 3- and 6-month follow-ups. Main outcome measures were self-rated BDI-21 and clinician-rated Adolescent Depression Rating Scale (ADRSc). Latent change score (LCS) models were used to identify predictors of change in depressive symptom scores and clinical remission at end of treatment and 3- and 6-month follow-ups over the combined brief intervention group. Symptom improvement was predicted by younger age and having a close relationship with parents. Both symptom improvement and clinical remission were predicted by male gender, not having comorbid anxiety disorder, and not having sleep difficulties. Our results add to knowledge on factors associating with good treatment outcome after a brief community intervention for adolescent depression. Brief depression interventions may be useful and feasible especially for treatment of mild and moderate depression among younger adolescents and boys, on the other hand clinicians may need to cautiously examine sleep problems and anxiety comorbidity as markers of the need for longer treatment.

Reading and math skills development among Finnish primary school children before and after COVID-19 school closure

This study quantified the possible learning losses in reading and math skills among a sample of Finnish Grade 3 children (n = 198) who spent 8 weeks in distance learning during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020. We compared their reading and math skill development trajectories across Grades 1, 2, and 4 to a pre-COVID sample (N = 378). We also examined if gender, parental education, maternal homework involvement, and child's task-avoidant behavior predict children's academic skills at Grade 4 differently in the pre-COVID sample compared with the COVID sample. Children's reading and math skills were tested, mothers reported their education and homework involvement, and teachers rated children's task-avoidant behavior. The results showed, on average, lower reading skills in the COVID sample than in the pre-COVID sample but there were no differences in math skills. Although the COVID sample had lower levels in reading, their developmental trajectories in reading and math skills were not different from the pre-COVID sample before the pandemic in Grades 1 and 2. From Grade 2 to 4, however, the development was slower in reading fluency and comprehension in the COVID sample, but not in math. The predictors of change from Grade 2 to 4 in reading and math skills were not different in the samples. The results showed that the development of reading skills in particular may have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Literacy skills seem to fuel literacy enjoyment, rather than vice versa

Children who like to read and write tend to be better at it. This association is typically interpreted as enjoyment impacting engagement in literacy activities, which boosts literacy skills. We fitted direction-of-causation models to partial data of 3690 Finnish twins aged 12. Literacy skills were rated by the twins' teachers and literacy enjoyment by the twins themselves. A bivariate twin model showed substantial genetic influences on literacy skills (70%) and literacy enjoyment (35%). In both skills and enjoyment, shared-environmental influences explained about 20% in each. The best-fitting direction-of-causation model showed that skills impacted enjoyment, while the influence in the other direction was zero. The genetic influences on skills influenced enjoyment, likely via the skills→enjoyment path. This indicates an active gene-environment correlation: children with an aptitude for good literacy skills are more likely to enjoy reading and seek out literacy activities. To a lesser extent, it was also the shared-environmental influences on children's skills that propagated to influence children's literacy enjoyment. Environmental influences that foster children's literacy skills (e.g., families and schools), also foster children's love for reading and writing. These findings underline the importance of nurturing children's literacy skills. HIGHLIGHTS: It's known that how much children enjoy reading and writing and how good they are at it correlates ∼0.30, but causality remains unknown. We tested the direction of causation in 3690 twins aged 12. Literacy skills impacted literacy enjoyment, but not the other way around. Genetics influence children's literacy skills and how much they like and choose to read and write, indicating genetic niche picking.

Developmental profiles of reading fluency and reading comprehension from grades 1 to 9 and their early identification

This study examined developmental profiles of reading fluency and reading comprehension in Grades 1 to 9 (ages 7 to 15) in a large Finnish sample (N = 2,518). In addition, early predictors of the profiles were analyzed with respect to kindergarten cognitive skills (phonological awareness, letter knowledge, rapid automized naming [RAN], number counting, word reading, vocabulary, and listening comprehension), parental factors (level of education, reading difficulties), and gender. Four different profiles of reading fluency and reading comprehension development were identified using latent profile analysis. These comprised one profile with persistent reading difficulties across the grades, one with early poor reading skills but with a resolving tendency, one with average reading skills, and one with good readers who started with very high reading fluency but scored average over time. Of the kindergarten measures, parental reading difficulties, being male, low paternal level of education, slow RAN, difficulty in reading easy words, and low scores in phonological skills, letter knowledge, number counting, and vocabulary predicted reading difficulties. The children belonging to the profile with the resolving tendency showed an increased rate of family risk and multiple cognitive deficits but managed to resolve their reading difficulties. Being female, and good number counting and vocabulary skills predicted a tendency to resolve early reading difficulties. The results confirm the previous findings on the early predictors of reading difficulties and add to the literature by identifying skills that predict resolving patterns. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

The Impact of School Closure on Adolescents' Wellbeing, and Steps towards to a New Normal: The Need for an Assessment Tool Update?

Close to 200 countries have implemented school closures to decrease the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. Though the closures have seemed necessary, their effects on the wellbeing of children and adolescents have raised serious concerns. To truly understand the impact of such disruption on young people's wellbeing, and their views on how to move towards a new normal, we must adopt different approaches to gather the data to secure children's and adolescents' rights to be heard in the issues that concern their lives. Current ways to examine the impacts of school closure have been dominated by gathering information concerning the children and adolescents, using mainly existing wellbeing indicators and related questionnaire surveys. Although such sources of information are important, they provide limited understanding of how children and adolescents have experienced school closures, especially if they have been produced using measures developed purely by adults. There is a need for information produced by children and adolescents themselves, which may require going beyond existing and pre-COVID theoretical wellbeing frameworks. By capturing information produced by children and adolescents, we can more effectively guide the development and evaluation of public health policies and identify solutions to mitigate the negative impacts of school closure, or to acknowledge the possible positive effects, and respond accordingly.

Unveiling the Mysteries of Dyslexia-Lessons Learned from the Prospective Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Dyslexia

This paper reviews the observations of the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Dyslexia (JLD). The JLD is a prospective family risk study in which the development of children with familial risk for dyslexia (N = 108) due to parental dyslexia and controls without dyslexia risk (N = 92) were followed from birth to adulthood. The JLD revealed that the likelihood of at-risk children performing poorly in reading and spelling tasks was fourfold compared to the controls. Auditory insensitivity of newborns observed during the first week of life using brain event-related potentials (ERPs) was shown to be the first precursor of dyslexia. ERPs measured at six months of age related to phoneme length identification differentiated the family risk group from the control group and predicted reading speed until the age of 14 years. Early oral language skills, phonological processing skills, rapid automatized naming, and letter knowledge differentiated the groups from ages 2.5-3.5 years onwards and predicted dyslexia and reading development, including reading comprehension, until adolescence. The home environment, a child's interest in reading, and task avoidance were not different in the risk group but were found to be additional predictors of reading development. Based on the JLD findings, preventive and intervention methods utilizing the association learning approach have been developed.

Longitudinal Effects of the Home Learning Environment and Parental Difficulties on Reading and Math Development Across Grades 1-9

This study focuses on parental reading and mathematical difficulties, the home literacy environment, and the home numeracy environment as well as their predictive role in Finnish children’s reading and mathematical development through Grades 1–9. We examined if parental reading and mathematical difficulties directly predict children’s academic performance and/or if they are mediated by the home learning environment. Mothers (n = 1590) and fathers (n = 1507) reported on their reading and mathematical difficulties as well as on the home environment (shared reading, teaching literacy, and numeracy) when their children were in kindergarten. Tests for reading fluency, reading comprehension, and arithmetic fluency were administered to children in Grades 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, and 9. Parental reading difficulties predicted children’s reading fluency, whereas parental mathematical difficulties predicted their reading comprehension and arithmetic fluency. Familial risk was associated with neither formal nor informal home environment factors, whereas maternal education had a significant relationship with both, with higher levels of education among mothers predicting less time spent on teaching activities and more time spent on shared reading. In addition, shared reading was significantly associated with the development of reading comprehension up to Grades 3 and 4, whereas other components of the home learning environment were not associated with any assessed skills. Our study highlights that taken together, familial risk, parental education, and the home learning environment form a complex pattern of associations with children’s mathematical and reading skills.

Home Literacy Activities and Children's Reading Skills, Independent Reading, and Interest in Literacy Activities From Kindergarten to Grade 2

According to the Home Literacy Model (Sénéchal and LeFevre, 2002, 2014), young children can be exposed to two distinct types of literacy activities at home. First, meaning-related literacy activities are those where print is present but is not the focus of the parent-child interaction, for example, when parents read storybooks to their children. In contrast, code-related literacy activities focus on the print, for example, activities such as when parents teach their children the names and sounds of letters or to read words. The present study was conducted to expand the Home Literacy Model by examining its relation with children's engagement in literacy activities at home and at school as Finnish children transitioned from kindergarten to Grades 1 and 2. Two facets of children's engagement were examined, namely, children's independent reading at home and their interest in literacy activities. Children (N = 378) were tested and interviewed at the ends of kindergarten, Grade 1, and Grade 2. Mothers completed questionnaires on their home literacy activities at each test time, and they reported the frequency with which their children read independently twice when children were in grade school. Tested was a longitudinal model of the hypothesized relations among maternal home literacy activities (shared reading and teaching of reading), children's reading skills, independent reading, and their interest in literacy activities/tasks as children progressed from kindergarten to Grade 2. Stringent path analyses that included all auto-regressors were conducted. Findings extended previous research in four ways. First, the frequency of shared reading and teaching of reading at home predicted the frequency of children's independent reading 1 year later. Second, children with stronger early literacy skills in kindergarten read independently more frequently once they were in Grade 1. Third, parents adapted, from kindergarten to Grade 1, their teaching behaviors to their children's progress in reading, whereas shared reading decreased over time. Fourth, children's own reports of interest in literacy activities were mostly not linked to other variables. Taken together, these results add another layer to the Home Literacy Model.

Longitudinal Stability of Reading Difficulties: Examining the Effects of Measurement Error, Cut-Offs, and Buffer Zones in Identification

This study examined the stability of reading difficulties (RD) from grades 2 to 6 and focused on the effects of measurement error and cut-off selection in the identification of RD and its stability with the use of simulations. It addressed methodological limitations of prior studies by (a) applying a model-based simulation analysis to examine the effects of measurement error and cut-offs in the identification of RD, (b) analyzing a non-English and larger sample, and (c) examining RD in both reading fluency and reading comprehension. Reading fluency and reading comprehension of 1,432 Finnish-speaking children were assessed in grades 2 and 6. In addition to the use of single cut-off points on observed data, we used a simulation approach based on an estimated structural equation model (SEM) in order to examine the effect of measurement error on RD identification stability. We also examined the effect of single cut-offs by using a simulation-based buffer zone. Our results showed that measurement error affects the identification of RD over time. The use of a simulation-based buffer zone could control both the effects of measurement error and the arbitrariness of single cut-offs and lead to more accurate classification into RD groups, especially for those with scores close to the cut-offs. However, even after controlling for measurement error and using buffer zones, RD was not stable over time for all children, but both resolving and late-emerging groups existed. The findings suggest that reading development needs to be followed closely beyond the early grades and that reading instruction should be planned according to individual needs at specific time points. There is a clear need for further consideration of the mechanisms underlying the stability and instability of RD.

Classroom effect on primary school students’ self-concept in literacy and mathematics

According to the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLP) model, high individual academic performance in a particular subject is related to high self-concept in that subject, whereas high average classroom performance has a negative effect on self-concept. In the present study, data from Finnish primary school students in grade 3 (504 students), grade 4 (487 students), and grade 6 (365 students) are used to examine whether the assumptions of the BFLP effect model hold already in primary school. Furthermore, we examined gender differences in BFLP effect. The results showed that as expected students’ high performance in literacy and in mathematics was related to high self-concept in the same subject. Support for the negative classroom effect was small and it depended on the school subject and student’s gender. That is, a high average classroom performance already in grade 3 had a negative but small effect on boys’ self-concept in mathematics. In literacy and among girls, only little support was found for the negative classroom effect.

Task-avoidant behaviour and dyslexia: A follow-up from Grade 2 to age 20

Task-avoidant behaviour is correlated with reading skills and may have an impact on achieving educational and occupation goals in the long run. Longitudinal studies on task avoidance and its links to reading difficulties are non-existent, however. The present study examines changes and stability of task-avoidant behaviour from childhood (Grade 2), through adolescence (Grades 7 and 9), to early adulthood (age 20) among participants identified with (n = 46) and without dyslexia (n = 151) at Grade 2, with gender effects also examined. Results showed significant changes in task avoidance from Grade 2 to Grade 7 and from Grade 9 to age 20, wherein task avoidance increased from Grade 2 to Grade 9 and then decreased until age 20. Furthermore, low correlations obtained between task avoidance assessments over time indicated instability; thus, task avoidance at one point did not predict task avoidance later on. Differences between those with and without dyslexia emerged only at Grade 2, with higher task avoidance reported in the dyslexia group. Finally, no significant gender-related effects were found for task avoidance at any time point. Together, our findings imply that although task avoidance may be linked to dyslexia in the parental reports of the young study participants, this association does not persist in participants' self-reports at later ages.

Interpersonal Counseling in the Treatment of Adolescent Depression: A Randomized Controlled Effectiveness and Feasibility Study in School Health and Welfare Services

In order to offer early and accessible treatment for adolescents with depression, brief and effective treatments in adolescents’ everyday surroundings are needed. This randomized controlled trial studied the preliminary effectiveness, feasibility, and acceptability of interpersonal counseling (IPC) and brief psychosocial support (BPS) in school health and welfare services. The study was conducted in the 28 lower secondary schools of a large city in Southern Finland, randomized to provide either IPC or BPS. Help-seeking 12–16-year-old adolescents with mild-to-moderate depression, with and without comorbid anxiety, were included in the study. Fifty-five adolescents received either 6 weekly sessions of IPC or BPS and two follow-up sessions. Outcome measures included self- and clinician-rated measures of depression, global functioning, and psychological distress/well-being. To assess feasibility and acceptability of the treatments, adolescents’ and counselors’ treatment compliance and satisfaction with treatment were assessed. Both treatments were effective in reducing depressive disorders and improving adolescents’ overall functioning and well-being. At post-treatment, in both groups, over 50% of adolescents achieved recovery based on self-report and over 70% based on observer report. Effect sizes for change were medium or large in both groups at post-treatment and increased at 6-month follow-up. A trend indicating greater baseline symptom severity among adolescents treated in the IPC-providing schools was observed. Adolescents and counselors in both groups were satisfied with the treatment, and 89% of the adolescents completed the treatments and follow-ups. This trial suggests that both IPC and BPS are feasible, acceptable, and effective treatments for mild-to-moderate depression in the school setting. In addition, IPC seems effective even if comorbid anxiety exists. Our study shows that brief, structured interventions, such as IPC and BPS, are beneficial in treating mild-to-moderate depression in school settings and can be administered by professionals working at school.

Trial registrationhttp://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT03001245.

Health asset profiles and health indicators among 13- and 15-year-old adolescents

Objectives

We examined the associations between adolescents’ health assets and various health indicators (smoking, alcohol use, sleep length, physical activity, healthy eating, oral health, self-reported health, multiple health complaints).

Methods

A nationally representative sample was drawn from Finnish-speaking schools, comprising 13- and 15-year-old adolescents (n = 3833). The measures taken covered the adolescents’ health assets, which were labelled Family-financial, Psychological, Family-social, Friends-social, School-social, and Human. Our analysis applied two-step cluster analysis and multilevel mixed-effects binary logistic regression.

Results

Six asset profiles were identified: ‘Limited in most assets, despite medium affluence’, ‘Mostly average assets, but low affluence’, ‘Mostly average assets, though high affluence’, ‘Mostly above average assets’, ‘Rich in most assets’, and ‘Rich in all assets’. There were significant differences between the profiles in terms of risk level and desirable level health outcomes.

Conclusions

Adolescents differ in their asset profiles. Having multiple health assets appears to protect adolescents from risky behaviour or poor health, and to promote positive health. There is a need for health initiatives to develop a range of health-protecting and health-promoting assets, rather than focus on only one.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1007/s00038-019-01280-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Leisure Reading (But Not Any Kind) and Reading Comprehension Support Each Other-A Longitudinal Study Across Grades 1 and 9

This study examines associations between leisure reading and reading skills in data of 2,525 students followed from age 7 to 16. As a step further from traditional cross-lagged analysis, a random intercept cross-lagged panel model was used to identify within-person associations of leisure reading (books, magazines, newspapers, and digital reading), reading fluency, and reading comprehension. In Grades 1-3 poorer comprehension and fluency predicted less leisure reading. In later grades more frequent leisure reading, particularly of books, predicted better reading comprehension. Negative associations were found between digital reading and reading skills. The findings specify earlier findings of correlations between individuals by showing that reading comprehension improvement, in particular, is predicted by within-individual increases in book reading.

Reading and Spelling Development Across Languages Varying in Orthographic Consistency: Do Their Paths Cross?

We examined the cross-lagged relations between reading and spelling in five alphabetic orthographies varying in consistency (English, French, Dutch, German, and Greek). Nine hundred and forty-one children were followed from Grade 1 to Grade 2 and were tested on word and pseudoword reading fluency and on spelling to dictation. Results indicated that the relations across languages were unidirectional: Earlier reading predicted subsequent spelling. However, we also found significant differences between languages in the strength of the effects of earlier reading on subsequent spelling. These findings suggest that, once children master decoding, the observed differences between languages are not related to the direction of the effects but to the strength of the effects from reading to spelling. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Reading outcomes of children with delayed early vocabulary: A follow-up from age 2-16

BACKGROUND

Delays in expressive vocabulary have been associated with lower outcomes in reading.

AIM

The aim is to conduct a long-term follow-up study to investigate if early expressive vocabulary delay (late talking) predicts reading development in participants age 16 and under. We examine further if the prediction is different in the presence of family risk for dyslexia (FR) and early receptive vocabulary delay.

METHODS

Expressive and receptive vocabulary skills were assessed at the age of 2-2.5 years, and reading skills in Grades 2, 3, 8 and 9 (age 8-16). The longitudinal sample consisted of 200 Finnish-speaking children, of which 108 had FR for dyslexia and 92 came from families without reading difficulties. We compared the reading development of five subgroups: 1) FR and no vocabulary delay; 2) FR and late talkers, 3) FR, late talkers and co-existing receptive vocabulary delay; 4) no FR and late talkers; and 5) no FR and no vocabulary delay.

RESULTS

The group with FR and expressive and receptive vocabulary delay had difficulties in reading comprehension, but not in reading fluency. The late talkers without receptive vocabulary difficulties tended to become typical readers.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

Delays in early vocabulary can lead to a reading comprehension deficit, with the specification that expressive vocabulary deficit alone can alleviate in time, whereas the combined deficit is a stronger risk marker.

GraphoLearn India: The Effectiveness of a Computer-Assisted Reading Intervention in Supporting Struggling Readers of English

India, a country with a population of more than 1.3 billion individuals, houses the world's second largest educational system. Despite this, 100 of millions of individuals in India are still illiterate. As English medium education sweeps the country, many are forced to learn in a language which is foreign to them. Those living in poverty further struggle to learn English as it tends to be a language which they have no prior exposure to and no support at home for. Low-quality schools and poor instructional methods further exacerbate the problem. Without access to quality education, these individuals continue to struggle and are ultimately never given the chance to break the cycle of poverty. The aim of this study was to determine whether GraphoLearn, a computer-assisted reading tool, could be used to support the English reading skills of struggling readers in India. Participants were 7-year-old, grade 3 students (N = 30), who were attending an English-medium public school in Ahmedabad, India. English was not a native language for any of the students and all were reading at a level below that of Grade 1 despite having attended school for 2 years. Half of the students played GraphoLearn (n = 16) while the other half played a control math game (n = 14) for 20-30 min a day, over a period of 8 weeks. GraphoLearn led to significant improvements in children's letter-sound knowledge, a critical factor in early reading development. Overall, the study opens doors for GraphoLearn as a potential intervention to support struggling readers of English in India, including those who are learning a non-native language and coming from at-risk backgrounds.

The precursors of double dissociation between reading and spelling in a transparent orthography

Research and clinical practitioners have mixed views whether reading and spelling difficulties should be combined or seen as separate. This study examined the following: (a) if double dissociation between reading and spelling can be identified in a transparent orthography (Finnish) and (b) the cognitive and noncognitive precursors of this phenomenon. Finnish-speaking children (n = 1963) were assessed on reading fluency and spelling in grades 1, 2, 3, and 4. Dissociation groups in reading and spelling were formed based on stable difficulties in grades 1-4. The groups were compared in kindergarten phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming, letter knowledge, home literacy environment, and task-avoidant behavior. The results indicated that the double dissociation groups could be identified even in the context of a highly transparent orthography: 41 children were unexpected poor spellers (SD), 36 were unexpected poor readers (RD), and 59 were poor in both reading and spelling (RSD). The RSD group performed poorest on all cognitive skills and showed the most task-avoidant behavior, the RD group performed poorly particularly on rapid automatized naming and letter knowledge, and the SD group had difficulties on phonological awareness and letter knowledge. Fathers' shared book reading was less frequent in the RD and RSD groups than in the other groups. The findings suggest that there are discernible double dissociation groups with distinct cognitive profiles. This further suggests that the identification of difficulties in Finnish and the planning of teaching and remediation practices should include both reading and spelling assessments.

Subjective health literacy: Development of a brief instrument for school-aged children

Aims: The present paper focuses on the measurement of health literacy (HL), which is an important determinant of health and health behaviours. HL starts to develop in childhood and adolescence; hence, there is a need for instruments to monitor HL among younger age groups. These instruments are still rare. The aim of the project reported here was, therefore, to develop a brief, multidimensional, theory-based instrument to measure subjective HL among school-aged children. Methods: The development of the instrument covered four phases: item generation based on a conceptual framework; a pilot study ( n = 405); test–retest ( n = 117); and construction of the instrument ( n = 3853). All the samples were taken from Finnish 7th and 9th graders. Results: Initially, 65 items were generated, of which 32 items were selected for the pilot study. After item reduction, the instrument contained 16 items. The test–retest phase produced estimates of stability. In the final phase a 10-item instrument was constructed, referred to as Health Literacy for School-Aged Children (HLSAC). The instrument exhibited a high Cronbach alpha (0.93), and included two items from each of the five predetermined theoretical components (theoretical knowledge, practical knowledge, critical thinking, self-awareness, citizenship). Conclusions: The iterative and validity-driven development process made it possible to construct a brief multidimensional HLSAC instrument. Such instruments are suitable for large-scale studies, and for use with children and adolescents. Validation will require further testing for use in other countries.

Double-Deficit Hypothesis in a Clinical Sample: Extension Beyond Reading

This study explored the double-deficit hypothesis (DDH) in a transparent orthography (Finnish) and extended the view from reading disabilities to comorbidity of learning-related problems in math and attention. Children referred for evaluation of learning disabilities in second through sixth grade (N = 205) were divided into four groups based on rapid automatized naming (RAN) and phonological awareness (PA) according to the DDH: the double-deficit group, the naming speed deficit-only group, the phonological deficit-only group, and the no-deficit group. The results supported the DDH in that the prevalence and severity of reading disability were greatest in the double-deficit group. Despite the greater prevalence of reading disabilities in single-deficit groups compared to the no-deficit group, the means of reading measures in the single-deficit groups were similar to those of the no-deficit group. The PA single-deficit group was poorer in spelling than the no-deficit group and single-naming-deficit group. Deficits in RAN or PA were primarily linked to reading disabilities but not with math or attention problems. The results supported the DDH partially and indicate that deficits in RAN and PA are specific to reading disabilities.

Using a Multidimensional Measure of Resilience to Explain Life Satisfaction and Academic Achievement of Adults With Reading Difficulties

We assessed the impact of intrapersonal and interpersonal resilience, persistence, and number of difficulties in addition to reading problems on life satisfaction (general, social, and self) and academic achievement. A total of 120 adults with reading difficulties who either were completing a university degree or were recent graduates responded to an in-lab or online survey. Results indicated that intrapersonal resilience correlated positively with interpersonal resilience and persistence, and both resilience factors were negatively associated with number of difficulties. Using structural equation modeling, intrapersonal resilience explained general satisfaction, intrapersonal resilience and number of difficulties explained self satisfaction, and interpersonal resilience explained social satisfaction. Academic achievement did not correlate with any of the included variables.

Dyslexia-Early Identification and Prevention: Highlights from the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Dyslexia

Over two decades of Finnish research, monitoring children born with risk for dyslexia has been carried out in the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Dyslexia (JLD). Two hundred children, half at risk, have been assessed from birth to puberty on hundreds of measures. The aims were to identify measures of prediction of later reading difficulty and to instigate appropriate and earliest diagnosis and intervention. We can identify at-risk children from newborn electroencephalographic brain recordings (Guttorm et al., J Neural Transm 110:1059-1074, 2003). Predictors are also apparent from late-talking infants who have familial background of dyslexia (Lyytinen and Lyytinen, Appl Psycolinguistics 25:397-411, 2004). The earliest easy-to-use predictive measure to identify children who need help to avoid difficulties in learning to read is letter knowledge (Lyytinen et al., Merrill-Palmer Q 52:514-546, 2006). In response, a purpose-engineered computer game, GraphoGame™, provides an effective intervention tool (Lyytinen et al., Scand J Psychol 50:668-675, 2009). In doubling as a research instrument, GraphoGame provides bespoke intervention/reading instruction for typical/atypically developing children. Used extensively throughout Finland, GraphoGame is now crossing the developed and developing world to assist children, irrespective of the cause (environmental or genetic) of their failing to learn to read (Ojanen et al., Front Psychol 6(671):1-13, 2015).

Psychosocial Functioning of Children with and without Dyslexia: A Follow-up Study from Ages Four to Nine

This longitudinal study compares developmental changes in psychosocial functioning during the transition into school of children with and without dyslexia. In addition, it examines the effects of gender and family risk for dyslexia in terms of the associations between dyslexia and psychosocial functioning. Children's psychosocial functioning (social skills, inattention and externalizing and internalizing problems) was evaluated by their parents at ages 4, 6 and 9, and diagnosis for dyslexia was made at age 8 (in grade 2). The findings indicated that children with dyslexia were already rated as having poorer social skills and being more inattentive than were typical readers before their entry into school. Significant interactions of gender and diagnosis of dyslexia emerged for social skills and inattention. The social skills of boys with dyslexia improved after school entry as compared to the level of girls without dyslexia, whereas the social skills of girls with dyslexia did not improve. Boys with dyslexia were rated as showing a high level of inattention both prior to and after school entry, whereas, for girls with dyslexia, inattention ratings increased after school entry, eventually matching the boys' levels.

Elementary school teachers adapt their instructional support according to students’ academic skills

This study examined the longitudinal associations between children’s academic skills and the instructional support teachers gave individual students. A total of 253 Finnish children were tested on reading and math skills twice in the first grade and once in the second grade. The teachers of these children rated the instructional support that they gave each child in reading and mathematics. The results showed that the poorer the student’s reading and math skills were, the more support and attention the student received from his or her teacher later on. However, instructional support did not contribute positively to the subsequent development of the students’ academic skills. The person-oriented analyses showed that a relatively small group of children, that is, those showing the poorest academic skills, received the largest dose of teacher support, both with respect to reading and mathematics.

Predicting reading disability: early cognitive risk and protective factors

This longitudinal study examined early cognitive risk and protective factors for Grade 2 reading disability (RD). We first examined the reading outcome of 198 children in four developmental cognitive subgroups that were identified in our previous analysis: dysfluent trajectory, declining trajectory, unexpected trajectory and typical trajectory. We found that RD was unevenly distributed among the subgroups, although children with RD were found in all subgroups. A majority of the children with RD had familial risk for dyslexia. Second, we examined in what respect children with similar early cognitive development but different RD outcome differ from each other in cognitive skills, task-focused behaviour and print exposure. The comparison of the groups with high cognitive risk but different RD outcome showed significant differences in phonological skills, in the amount of shared reading and in task-focused behaviour. Children who ended up with RD despite low early cognitive risk had poorer cognitive skills, more task avoidance and they were reading less than children without RD and low cognitive risk. In summary, lack of task avoidance seemed to act as a protective factor, which underlines the importance of keeping children interested in school work and reading.

The role of parenting styles and teacher interactional styles in children's reading and spelling development

This study examined the associations between parenting styles, teacher interactional styles, and children's reading and spelling skills. The sample consisted of 864 Finnish-speaking children and their parents (864 mothers, 864 fathers) and teachers (N=123). Children's risk for reading disabilities and reader status were assessed in kindergarten. Children were also tested on reading and spelling skills in Grades 1 and 2. Parenting styles and teacher interactional styles were measured using parents' and teachers' self-reports in Grade 1. First, the results indicated that both an authoritative parenting style and authoritative teacher interactional style positively predicted children's spelling skill development. Second, authoritative parenting was particularly beneficial for the spelling skill development of children who were at risk for reading disabilities. Third, authoritative teaching promoted spelling skill development particularly among children who were nonreaders in kindergarten but had no risk for reading disabilities. Finally, some evidence was found that authoritative teaching could compensate for the negative impact of nonauthoritative parenting on reading development among kindergarten nonreaders.

The perceptions of a GP's work among fifth-year medical students in Helsinki, Finland

OBJECTIVE

To explore medical students' potential interest in family medicine in the future and their perceptions of a GP's work.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional survey in 2008-2010.

SETTING AND SUBJECTS

Fifth-year medical students prior to their main course in General Practice at the University of Helsinki.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

The students' opinions regarding the GP's work and their perceptions of the main aims of a GP's work.

RESULTS

309/359 medical students (mean age 25.7 years, 64% females) responded to the survey. Among the students, 76% considered the most attractive feature in the GP's work to be that it is versatile and challenging. The least attractive features included: too hasty, pressing work, too lonely work, and too many non-medical problems. The majority of the students considered the main aim of a GP's work as to identify serious diseases/disorders in order to refer those patients for specialized care (82%). Treatment of chronic diseases is an important responsibility of a GP's work according to 63% of the students. Only 38% considered health promotion to be an important aim.

CONCLUSIONS

Medical students may have perceptions of the GP's work that influence their career choices to specialize in other fields.

Parental literacy predicts children's literacy: a longitudinal family-risk study

This family-risk (FR) study examined whether the literacy skills of parents with dyslexia are predictive of the literacy skills of their offspring. We report data from 31 child-parent dyads where both had dyslexia (FR-D) and 68 dyads where the child did not have dyslexia (FR-ND). Findings supported the differences in liability of FR children with and without dyslexia: the parents of the FR-D children had more severe difficulties in pseudoword reading and spelling accuracy, in rapid word recognition, and in text reading fluency than the parents of the FR-ND children. Finally, parental skills were found to be significant predictors of children's Grade 3 reading and spelling. Parental skills predicted children's reading and spelling accuracy even after controlling for children's preschool skills. Our findings suggest that the literacy skills of a parent with dyslexia might be valuable in assessing early on their child's liability to dyslexia.

Language development, literacy skills, and predictive connections to reading in Finnish children with and without familial risk for dyslexia

Discriminative language markers and predictive links between early language and literacy skills were investigated retrospectively in the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Dyslexia in which children at familial risk for dyslexia have been followed from birth. Three groups were formed on the basis of 198 children's reading and spelling status. One group of children with reading disability (RD; n = 46) and two groups of typical readers from nondyslexic control (TRC; n = 84) and dyslexic families (TRD; n = 68) were examined from age 1.5 years to school age. The RD group was outperformed by typical readers on numerous language and literacy measures (expressive and receptive language, morphology, phonological sensitivity, RAN, and letter knowledge) from 2 years of age onward. The strongest predictive links emerged from receptive and expressive language to reading via measures of letter naming, rapid naming, morphology, and phonological awareness.

Developmental links of very early phonological and language skills to second grade reading outcomes: strong to accuracy but only minor to fluency

The authors examined second grade reading accuracy and fluency and their associations via letter knowledge to phonological and language predictors assessed at 3.5, 4.5, and 5.5 years in children in the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Dyslexia. Structural equation modeling showed that a developmentally highly stable factor (early phonological and language processing [EPLP]) behind key dyslexia predictors (i.e., phonological awareness, short-term memory, rapid naming, vocabulary, and pseudoword repetition) could already be identified at 3.5 years. EPLP was significantly associated with reading and spelling accuracy and by age with letter knowledge. However, EPLP had only a minor link with reading fluency, which was additionally explained by early letter knowledge. The results show that reading accuracy is well predicted by early phonological and language skills. Variation in fluent reading skills is not well explained by early skills, suggesting factors other than phonological core skills. Future research is suggested to explore the factors behind the development of fast and accurate decoding skills.

Very early phonological and language skills: estimating individual risk of reading disability

BACKGROUND

Analyses from the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Dyslexia project show that the key childhood predictors (phonological awareness, short-term memory, rapid naming, expressive vocabulary, pseudoword repetition, and letter naming) of dyslexia differentiate the group with reading disability (n = 46) and the group without reading problems (n = 152) at the end of the 2nd grade. These measures were employed at the ages of 3.5, 4.5 and 5.5 years and information regarding the familial risk of dyslexia was used to find the most sensitive indices of an individual child's risk for reading disability.

METHODS

Age-specific and across-age logistic regression models were constructed to produce the risk indices. The predictive ability of the risk indices was explored using the ROC (receiver operating curve) plot. Information from the logistic models was further utilised in illustrating the risk with probability curve presentations.

RESULTS

The logistic regression models with familial risk,letter knowledge, phonological awareness and RAN provided a prediction probability above .80 (area under ROC).

CONCLUSIONS

The models including familial risk status and the three above-mentioned measures offer a rough screening procedure for estimating an individual child's risk for reading disability at the age of 3.5 years. Probability curves are presented as a method of illustrating the risk.

Reading development subtypes and their early characteristics

The present findings are drawn from the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Dyslexia (JLD), in which approximately 100 children with familial risk of dyslexia and 100 control children have been followed from birth. In this paper we report data on the reading development of the JLD children and their classmates, a total of 1,750 children from four measurement points during the first two school years. In the total sample, we examined whether heterogeneous developmental paths can be identified based on profiles of word recognition and reading comprehension. Secondly, we studied what kind of early language and literacy skill profiles and reading experiences characterize the children with differing reading development in the follow-up sample. The mixture modeling procedure resulted in five subtypes: (1) poor readers, (2) slow decoders, (3) poor comprehenders, (4) average readers, and (5) good readers. The children with familial risk for dyslexia performed on average at a lower level in all reading tasks than both their classmates and the controls, and they were overrepresented in slow decoders subtype. Differences between the subtypes were found in the early language and literacy skill development, as well as in the reading experiences of the reading subtypes.

Predicting delayed letter knowledge development and its relation to grade 1 reading achievement among children with and without familial risk for dyslexia

The authors examined the developmental trajectories of children's early letter knowledge in relation to measures spanning and encompassing their prior language-related and cognitive measures and environmental factors and their subsequent Grade 1 reading achievement. Letter knowledge was assessed longitudinally at ages 4.5, 5.0, 5.5, and 6.5 years; earlier language skills and environmental factors were assessed at ages 3.5 and 4.5 years; and reading achievement was assessed at the beginning and end of Grade 1. The analyses were conducted on a longitudinal data set involving children with and without familial risk for dyslexia. Emerging from the trajectory analysis of letter knowledge were 3 separate clusters: delayed (n = 63), linearly growing (n = 73), and precocious (n = 51). The members of the delayed cluster were predominantly children with familial risk for dyslexia, and the members of the precocious cluster were predominantly control group children. Phonological sensitivity, phonological memory, and rapid naming skills predicted delayed letter knowledge. Environmental predictors included level of maternal education and the amount of letter name teaching. Familial risk for dyslexia made a significant contribution to the predictive relations. Membership in the delayed cluster predicted poor reading performance at Grade 1.

Detection of sound rise time by adults with dyslexia

Low sensitivity to amplitude modulated (AM) sounds is reported to be associated with dyslexia. An important aspect of amplitude modulation cycles are the rise and fall times within the sound. In this study, simplified stimuli equivalent to just one cycle were used and sensitivity to varying rise times was explored. Adult participants with dyslexia or compensated dyslexia and a control group performed a detection task with sound pairs of different rise times. Results showed that the participants with dyslexia differed from the control group in rise time detection and a correlation was found between rise time detection and reading and phonological skills. A subgroup of participants with lower sensitivity to rise time detection characterized by low accuracy in syllable-level phonological skills was found within the dyslexic group. Short stimuli containing only one rise time produced associations with phonological skills and reading, even in a language where the perception of rise time contrasts are not crucial for the signaling of phonemic contrast.

The development of children at familial risk for dyslexia: birth to early school age

Children at risk for familial dyslexia (n = 107) and their controls (n = 93) have been followed from birth to school entry in the Jyvaskyla Longitudinal study of Dyslexia (JLD) on developmental factors linked to reading and dyslexia. At the point of school entry, the majority of the at-risk children displayed decoding ability that fell at least 1 SD below the mean of the control group. Measures of speech processing were the earliest indices to show both group differences in infancy and also significant predictive associations with reading acquisition. A number of measures of language, including phonological and morphological skill collected repeatedly from age three, revealed group differences and predictive correlations. Both the group differences and the predictive associations to later language and reading ability strengthened as a function of increasing age. The predictions, however, tend to be stronger and the spectrum of significant correlations wider in the at-risk group. These results are crucial to early identification and intervention of dyslexia in at-risk children.