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Published on: September 27, 2020
The Associations Between Sluggish Cognitive Tempo, Internalizing Symptoms, and Academic Performance in Children With
Bushra Hossain1, Stephen Bent1, China Parenteau1
1University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Objective:
To investigate whether sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) was associated with anxiety, depression, and academic performance (AP) in children with reading disorder (RD), and whether ADHD-Inattention (ADHD-IN) moderated these relationships.
Method:
Parents and teachers of children with RD (N = 147, ages 6-18) completed evaluations of SCT, ADHD, anxiety, depression, and AP, every 3 months for 18 months. Baseline and longitudinal associations between SCT and outcomes, and effect moderation of ADHD-IN, were assessed.
Results:
Teacher-rated SCT was positively associated with teacher-rated anxiety (p < .001) and negatively associated with AP (p < .001) cross-sectionally and longitudinally, with significant effect modification by ADHD-IN for both outcomes. SCT was not associated with depression in adjusted cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. There were no significant findings for any parent-reported measures.
Conclusion:
SCT has negative effects on anxiety and AP in children with RD among individuals with low ADHD-IN according to teacher report. Targeted treatment of SCT may provide substantial benefits.
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