Validation of The Reading House and Association With Cortical Thickness.

Area of Science:

• Pediatric literacy assessment
• Neuroscience of early development
• Childhood emergent literacy skills

Background:

• The American Academy of Pediatrics advocates for literacy promotion during well-child visits.
• The Reading House (TRH) is a book-based tool for screening preschool emergent literacy.
• Emergent literacy skills include vocabulary, rhyming, and rapid naming, which are linked to left-hemisphere cortical thickness.

Purpose of the Study:

• To validate The Reading House (TRH) against key emergent literacy skills.
• To explore the relationship between TRH scores and cortical thickness in preschool children.
• To investigate the influence of socioeconomic status (SES) on these associations.

Main Methods:

• Preschool children underwent MRI scans and completed TRH and other emergent literacy assessments.
• Assessments included rapid naming, rhyming, vocabulary, and general emergent literacy.
• Statistical analyses used Spearman correlations and whole-brain cortical thickness measures, controlling for age, sex, and SES.

Main Results:

• TRH scores showed significant positive correlations with all emergent literacy measures (p < .001).
• TRH scores correlated with greater left-sided language and visual cortical thickness.
• Socioeconomic status influenced the pattern of cortical thickness, with lower SES showing less mature patterns.

Conclusions:

• Findings support TRH's validity as a screening tool for preschool emergent literacy.
• Associations between TRH scores and cortical thickness provide neurobiological support.
• Socioeconomic status plays a role in emergent literacy development and associated brain structure.