Internalizing Symptoms and Reading Difficulties Among Early Elementary School Students.

Area of Science:

• Educational Psychology
• Developmental Psychology
• Clinical Psychology

Background:

• Learning disabilities research has advanced, yet the impact of internalizing symptoms on struggling readers remains understudied.
• Internalizing symptoms, such as anxiety and depression, may affect academic performance and intervention outcomes.
• Understanding the interplay between reading difficulties and internalizing symptoms is crucial for effective educational support.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the role of internalizing symptoms in students with reading difficulties.
• To compare internalizing symptoms between struggling and typical readers throughout an academic year.
• To examine the relationship between internalizing symptoms and intervention response.

Main Methods:

• Compared child-reported internalizing measures in struggling and typical readers at the start and end of the school year.
• Assessed students receiving either standard classroom instruction or intensive intervention.
• Analyzed differences among struggling readers based on whether they met reading benchmarks.

Main Results:

• Significant increases in internalizing symptoms were observed in struggling readers by year-end.
• Students with persistent reading struggles reported higher levels of distress.
• Bi-directional relationships were found: initial reading group status predicted later internalizing symptoms, and initial internalizing symptoms predicted intervention response.

Conclusions:

• Internalizing symptoms are significantly associated with persistent reading struggles.
• The findings highlight the need to consider internalizing symptoms in interventions for struggling readers.
• Future research should explore how to integrate mental health support into reading interventions.