Role of executive functioning and home environment in early reading development

The influence of home environment on 2-year-old Chinese children's language development: the mediating effect of executive function and the moderating effect of temperament

Prior research highlighted the effect of home environment on the language development of young children. Recent research has mainly discussed the moderating effect of personality traits like temperament. Nevertheless, the precise mechanism about the relationship between home environments to children's language development remains incompletely understood. This study explored how home environment impacts the language development of 2-year-old toddlers and the role of temperament and executive function in this relationship. We used the Chinese Child Adaptive Behavior Scale, the Temperament Scale for 1-3 years old of toddlers and the Home Environment Scale for Infants' and Toddlers' families to assess children's language development, temperament, and home environment. Simultaneously, the research used the Stroop-like day-night task and the multiple location search task to evaluate children's executive function. A total of 117 2-year-old children as well as their parents were involved in the study. The results revealed that home environment significantly predicts children's language ability with executive function as a mediating role. Temperament dimensions including extraversion, independence, reactivity, and social inhibition play a moderating role between home environment and executive function. The findings contributed to the improved implementation of home education tailored to children with different temperament traits, offering effective support for the cognitive and language development of young children.

Phonological Awareness and Rapid Automatized Naming: The Mediating Effect of Word Reading and Spelling in Children with Developmental Dyslexia, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and Mild Intellectual Disability

INTRODUCTION

In learning to read, children learn to integrate orthographic, phonological, and semantic codes into highly specified and redundant lexical representations. The aim is to test a proposed model for the relationship between phonological awareness (PA) and rapid automatized naming (RAN) as mediated by word reading (WR) and spelling (SP) in children with developmental dyslexia (DD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and mild intellectual disability (ID).

METHODS

The relation between PA and RAN was found to be mediated by WR and SP in children with DD, ADHD, and mild ID. Three groups of children were included: DD children (N = 70), ADHD children (N = 68), and ID children (N = 69). This is a quantitative correlational, cross-sectional study investigating the strength and direction of relationships among proposed variables.

RESULTS

The relation between PA and RAN was found to be mediated by WR and SP. Based on their correlation analysis, the researcher concluded that there are significant correlations between PA, RAN, WR, and SP. PA correlates positively with RAN and SP. RAN correlates positively with WR and SP.

CONCLUSION

The study extended our knowledge of the relationship between PA and RAN as mediated by WR and SP in children with DD, ADHD, and mild ID. In practice, this is conducive to promote the utilization of "PA" and "RAN" so as to improve the early literacy skills (WR and SP) among children with DD, ADHD, and mild ID.

Testing the validity of a self-report scale, author recognition test, and book counting as measures of lifetime exposure to print fiction

We report a study testing the validity of the three most commonly used indicators of lifetime exposure to print fiction, namely a self-report scale, an author recognition test (ART), and book counting, in a sample of older adults (N=306; Mage = 59.29 years, SDage = 7.01). Convergent validity of the self-report scale and book counting was assessed through correlations with the fiction sub-score of the ART; divergent validity of these two indicators was examined via correlations with the non-fiction sub-score of that ART. We also assessed criterion-related validity by testing the degree to which each of the three indicators predicted participants' performance in a vocabulary test. The self-report scale and book counting were significantly more positively associated with the ART fiction sub-score than the ART non-fiction sub-score. Regression analyses, controlling for gender and non-fiction exposure, revealed that the ART fiction sub-score had the highest explanatory power among all indicators under investigation for predicting vocabulary test performance. The present results suggest that only ARTs may have satisfactory levels of both construct and criterion-related validity. Recommendations for the assessment of fiction exposure and future directions are discussed.

Does the frequency of reading and writing habits contribute to executive functions, intelligence, and learning in adolescents with healthy development?

The influence of the frequency of reading and writing habits (FRWH) on cognition has been investigated by several studies in the literature. However, the implications of FRWH on executive development, intelligence, and academic achievement are not yet clear in adolescents with healthy development. The aim was to verify whether there are differences in executive functions, intelligence, and academic achievement between adolescents with high and low FRWH. Moreover, we aimed to investigate if there are differences in the parental FRWH between adolescents with high and low FRWH. The sample was composed of 47 healthy adolescents, n = 24 with high FRWH and n = 23 with low FRWH. Adolescents with higher FRWH had better performance on measures of vocabulary, Speech Act analysis, and Oral Narrative Discourse. Therefore, a high FRWH has a positive influence on the cognitive development of healthy adolescents, especially with regard to pragmatic language. However, adolescents with low FRWH performed better than those with a high FRWH on an automatic counting task. The interpretation of cognitive performance and academic achievement scores in neuropsychological assessment should consider the FRWH of parents and adolescents. This factor should be targeted by early stimulation interventions to help adolescents achieve the highest possible levels of global development.

Pre-Birth Household Challenges Predict Future Child’s School Readiness and Academic Achievement

Early developmental success and school readiness strongly influence future skill development, occupational opportunities, and health. Therefore, it is critical to identify and address early determinants of school readiness for supporting children’s overall well-being and success. In this retrospective cohort study, we examined the effects of pre-birth household challenges, such as homelessness or experiences of intimate partner violence, on children’s early school readiness. We linked data from the Alaska 2009–2011 Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) to administrative and education records through 2019. Education records included kindergarten developmental scores, third grade reading assessments, and attendance records. Generalized linear models with Quasi-Poisson distributions for each outcome of interest examined the predictive value of pre-birth household challenges on the risks of not meeting school readiness expectations. We found that experiencing higher numbers of pre-birth household challenges was related to higher risk of the child not meeting developmental and reading proficiency and having chronic absenteeism. These results suggest that it is imperative support systems for pregnant persons and their families be introduced as soon as possible in pre-natal care routines to address current pre-birth household stressors and prevent future challenges. Such early prevention efforts are needed to ensure the best possible developmental start for children.

Development of thalamus mediates paternal age effect on offspring reading: A preliminary investigation

The importance of (inherited) genetic impact in reading development is well established. De novo mutation is another important contributor that is recently gathering interest as a major liability of neurodevelopmental disorders, but has been neglected in reading research to date. Paternal age at childbirth (PatAGE) is known as the most prominent risk factor for de novo mutation, which has been repeatedly shown by molecular genetic studies. As one of the first efforts, we performed a preliminary investigation of the relationship between PatAGE, offspring's reading, and brain structure in a longitudinal neuroimaging study following 51 children from kindergarten through third grade. The results showed that greater PatAGE was significantly associated with worse reading, explaining an additional 9.5% of the variance after controlling for a number of confounds-including familial factors and cognitive-linguistic reading precursors. Moreover, this effect was mediated by volumetric maturation of the left posterior thalamus from ages 5 to 8. Complementary analyses indicated the PatAGE-related thalamic region was most likely located in the pulvinar nuclei and related to the dorsal attention network by using brain atlases, public datasets, and offspring's diffusion imaging data. Altogether, these findings provide novel insights into neurocognitive mechanisms underlying the PatAGE effect on reading acquisition during its earliest phase and suggest promising areas of future research.

Decoding Abilities in Adolescents with Intellectual Disabilities: The Contribution of Cognition, Language, and Home Literacy

Decoding abilities in individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) are substantially lower than for typical readers. The underlying mechanisms of their poor reading remain uncertain. The aim of this study was to investigate the concurrent predictors of decoding ability in 136 adolescents with non-specific ID, and to evaluate the results in relation to previous findings on typical readers. The study included a broad range of cognitive and language measures as predictors of decoding ability. A LASSO regression analysis identified phonological awareness and rapid automatized naming (RAN) as the most important predictors. The predictors explained 57.73% of the variance in decoding abilities. These variables are similar to the ones found in earlier research on typically developing children, hence supporting our hypothesis of a delayed rather than a different reading profile. These results lend some support to the use of interventions and reading instructions, originally developed for typically developing children, for children and adolescents with non-specific ID.

Investigating Reading Comprehension in Adolescents with Intellectual Disabilities: Evaluating the Simple View of Reading

Reading comprehension difficulties are common in individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID), but the influences of underlying abilities related to reading comprehension in this group have rarely been investigated. One aim of this study was to investigate the Simple View of Reading as a theoretical framework to describe cognitive and linguistic abilities predicting individual differences in reading comprehension in adolescents with non-specific ID. A second aim was to investigate whether predictors of listening comprehension and reading comprehension suggest that individuals with ID have a delayed pattern of development (copying early grade variance in reading comprehension) or a different pattern of development involving a new or an unusual pattern of cognitive and linguistic predictors. A sample of 136 adolescents with non-specific ID was assessed on reading comprehension, decoding, linguistic, and cognitive measures. The hypotheses were evaluated using structural equation models. The results showed that the Simple View of Reading was not applicable in explaining reading comprehension in this group, however, the concurrent predictors of comprehension (vocabulary and phonological executive-loaded working memory) followed a delayed profile.

Direct and Indirect Contributions of Executive Function to Word Decoding and Reading Comprehension in Kindergarten

Extant research is increasingly recognizing the contribution of executive function (EF) to reading comprehension alongside established predictors like word decoding and oral language. The nature of the association between EF and reading comprehension is commonly investigated in older children and in those with reading impairments. However, less is known about this relationship in emerging readers in kindergarten, where word decoding and reading comprehension are highly intertwined. Moreover, a better understanding of the mechanisms by which EF influences reading comprehension is needed. The present study investigated direct contributions of EF to reading comprehension, as well as indirect contributions via word decoding in 97 kindergarteners. Results indicated that there was a significant indirect effect of EF on reading comprehension, with word decoding mediating this association. The direct contribution of EF to reading comprehension was not significant. Implications for reading instruction and intervention for early readers are discussed.

Recognizing Psychiatric Comorbidity With Reading Disorders

Reading disorder (RD), a specific learning disorder (SLD) of reading that includes impairment in word reading, reading fluency, and/or reading comprehension, is common in the general population but often is not comprehensively understood or assessed in mental health settings. In education settings, comorbid mental and associated disorders may be inadequately integrated into intervention plans. Assessment and intervention for RD may be delayed or absent in children with frequently co-occurring mental disorders not fully responding to treatment in both school and mental health settings. To address this oversight, this review summarizes current knowledge regarding RDs and common comorbid or co-occurring disorders that are important for mental health and school settings. We chose to highlight RD because it is the most common SLD, and connections to other often comorbid disorders have been more thoroughly described in the literature. Much of the literature we describe is on decoding-based RD (or developmental dyslexia) as it is the most common form of RD. In addition to risk for academic struggle and social, emotional, and behavioral problems, those with RD often show early evidence of combined or intertwined Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition childhood disorders. These include attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety and depression, disruptive, impulse-control, and conduct disorders, autism spectrum disorders, and other SLDs. The present review highlights issues and areas of controversy within these comorbidities, as well as directions for future research. An interdisciplinary, integrated approach between mental health professionals and educators can lead to comprehensive and targeted treatments encompassing both academic and mental health interventions. Such targeted treatments may contribute to improved educational and health-related outcomes in vulnerable youth. While there is a growing research literature on this association, more studies are needed of when to intervene and of the early and long-term benefits of comprehensive intervention.

Neurobiological Bases of Reading Disorder Part II: The Importance of Developmental Considerations in Typical and Atypical Reading

Decoding-based reading disorder (RD; aka developmental dyslexia) is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders, affecting approximately 5-10% of school-aged children across languages. Even though neuroimaging studies suggest an impairment of the left reading network in RD, the onset of this deficit and its developmental course, which may include constancy and change, is largely unknown. There is now growing evidence that the recruitment of brain networks underlying perceptual, cognitive and linguistic processes relevant to reading acquisition varies with age. These age-dependent changes may in turn impact the neurocognitive characteristics of RD observed at specific developmental stages. Here we synthesize findings from functional and structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies to increase our understanding of the developmental time course of the neural bases underlying (a)typical reading. We first provide an overview of the brain bases of typical and atypical (impaired) reading. Next we describe how the understanding of RD can be deepened through scientific attention to age effects, for example, by integrating findings from cross-sectional studies of RD at various ages. Finally, we accent findings from extant longitudinal studies that directly examine developmental reading trajectories beginning in the preliterate stage at both group and individual levels. Although science is at the very early stage of understanding developmental aspects of neural deficits in RD, evidence to date characterizes RD by atypical brain maturation. We know that reading impairment may adversely impact multiple life domains such as academic achievement and social relationships, and unfortunately, that these negative outcomes can persist and compound into adulthood. We contend that exploring the developmental trajectories of RD will contribute to a greater understanding of how neural systems support reading acquisition. Further, we propose and cite evidence that the etiology of RD can be better investigated by distinguishing primary deficits from secondary impairments unfolding along development. These exciting and modern investigatory efforts can also indirectly contribute to a centered practice of early and accurate identification and optimal intervention to support the development of foundational pre-literacy skills and fluent reading. In sum, integrating a developmental understanding into the science and practice of reading acquisition and intervention is both possible and necessary.