Behaviour, attention and cognition in severe dyslexia

Area of Science:

• Developmental Psychology
• Educational Psychology
• Clinical Psychology

Background:

• Coexisting problems in dyslexia are understudied, impacting diagnosis and remediation.
• Students with phonological deficits and severe reading impairments often lack sufficient research on associated challenges.
• Prolonged educational remediation does not always resolve underlying behavioral or emotional difficulties in students with dyslexia.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether students with dyslexia experience a higher prevalence of behavioral and emotional problems compared to normal reading peers.
• To assess the scope and nature of these coexisting problems across different informants (parents, teachers, participants).
• To determine the significance of these findings for diagnostic and remedial practices.

Main Methods:

• A clinical sample of 70 students with dyslexia was compared to a matched control group of normal reading students.
• Participants were pair-wise matched on age, gender, cognitive level, and living environment (rural/urban).
• Behavioral and emotional data were collected using the Child Behavior Checklist, Teacher's Report Form, and Youth Self Report from parents, teachers, and participants.

Main Results:

• The dyslexia group reported significantly more problems across all assessed areas compared to the control group.
• Parents reported the highest number of problems, with over 50% of the dyslexia group exhibiting internalizing behaviors and nearly 45% showing total problem behaviors.
• Attention problems were significantly more prevalent in the dyslexia group, as reported by all informant groups, with nearly half of the participants exhibiting such issues.

Conclusions:

• Students with severe reading problems, including dyslexia, demonstrate a significantly higher burden of behavioral and emotional difficulties.
• The findings underscore the imperative of identifying and addressing these coexisting problems for comprehensive student support.
• Further research is warranted to fully understand the complex interplay between dyslexia and emotional/behavioral challenges.