A screening on Specific Learning Disorders in an Italian speaking high genetic homogeneity area

Reading and writing difficulties in third- and sixth-grade students: a cross-sectional survey

BACKGROUND

In Southern Italy and, specifically, in the region of Campania, many surveys show that the average of students with reading difficulties is much higher than in northern Italy and abroad. On the other hand, specific learning disorders (SLDs) in Campania are much less certified. Since there are no etiological reasons that can explain this apparent inconsistency, an objective of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate the extent of reading/writing difficulties in students from a province of Campania and then to assess the ability of teachers to identify such difficulties in their students.

METHODS

Of a total of 241 enrolled students, 155 (64.31%), including 73 from primary school and 82 from secondary school, belonging to 5 schools in the province of Salerno (Italy), took part in the survey. Students' reading and writing skills were assessed through standardized tests. The tests results were then compared with teacher judgments and context-related variables.

RESULTS

At the reading test, 28.7% of primary school and 13.4% of lower secondary school students fell below the 5th percentile for age. Results of the writing test were even more significant: almost half of the students of both levels of education performed below the 5th percentile. Teacher judgments showed higher agreement with standardized assessments in primary (88%, K of Cohen=0.68) than in secondary school (78%, K=0.23).

CONCLUSIONS

Reading and writing difficulties were common in our sample. While reading skills tended to improve with age, writing difficulties apparently persisted to some extent in third and sixth-grade classes. The accuracy of teacher judgments on reading skills is relatively high, but teachers seem to hardly report reading difficulties "requiring attention." Although less "severe" than others, such difficulties should be considered, mainly because of their potential developmental trajectories.

Reading and spelling disorders in a school-based population screening in Sicily (Italy)

This research was carried out according to the Italian Consensus Conference on Specific Learning Disability guidelines for screening initiatives. It describes a three-year screening project involving 2.469 students, aged 8-15 years, from various classes of primary, lower and upper secondary schools of Sicily. Students were assessed for reading and spelling skills. Overall, 4.9% met the risk criteria for suspected reading disorder, 6.1% for spelling disorder, while 8.5% for both conditions. Results showed that out of 932 pupils in the primary school, 4.6% met the risk criteria for reading disorder and 6.5% for spelling disorder; out of 855 pupils of the lower secondary school, 5.3% for reading disorder and 5.5% for spelling disorder; out of 652 pupils of the upper secondary school, 4.9% for reading disorder and 6.1% for spelling disorder. No significant difference in the prevalence of students at risk of reading disorder or spelling disorder, within the three grade-levels over 3 years, was found. At project conclusion further clinical investigation to verify the screening results on student sub-sample (57%) was carried out. The percentage of students with SLD was equal to 3.15%, in the primary school, 3.76% in the lower secondary school and 2.51%, in the upper secondary school.

Associations between Learning and Behavioral Difficulties in Second-Grade Children

Learning and behavioral difficulties often emerge during the first years of primary school and are one of the most important issues of concern for families and schools. The study was aimed at investigating the co-occurrence of difficulties between academic learning and emotional-behavioral control in typically developing school children and the moderating role of sex. A sample of 640 second-grade school children participated in the study. This study used the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire to measure the emotional and behavioral difficulties and a battery of objective and standardized tests to evaluate the learning skills in children. In this sample 7% to 16% of children performed below the normal range in reading and/or arithmetic tests. Mixed models showed that children’s hyperactive behaviors were positively related to both reading and math difficulties, and emotional problems correlated negatively with reading accuracy. The more children displayed behavioral difficulties, the more they were exposed to the risk of worsening reading and math performance, especially for girls. The result that among different emotional-behavioral problems within the school setting, hyperactivity behaviors and emotional difficulties are related to learning difficulties with a moderate effect of sex, needs to be taken into account in screening and prevention programs for learning difficulties in order to not disregard the complexity of the associated profiles.

The prevalence and comorbidity rates of specific learning disorder among primary school children in Turkey

Purpose: The aim of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of specific learning disorder (SLD), comorbid disorders, and risk factors in primary school children for the first time in two-stage design in Turkey.Materials and methods: Participants were 1041 pupils in 28 primary schools and aged from 7 to 11. The Mathematics, Reading, Writing Assessment Scale (MOYA) teacher and parent forms were used in the screening stage and parents and teachers of each child completed MOYA. Ninety-five children were screen positive and eighty-three of these children participated in the interview. SLD diagnoses were based on DSM V criteria. Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children-Present and Lifetime Version (K-SADS-PL) was used for the comorbid psychiatric disorders.Results and conclusions: The prevalence rate of the SLD was 6.6%, impairment in reading was 4%, in mathematics was 3.6%, and in written expression was 1.8%. About 62.75% of children with SLD had one or more comorbid diagnoses. ADHD was the most common comorbid mental disorder in SLD (54.9%). SLD prevalence was higher among males. The prevalence of SLD in primary school children in Turkey is consistent with previous studies.

Assessment of Psychiatric Comorbidity and WISC-R Profiles in Cases Diagnosed with Specific Learning Disorder According to DSM-5 Criteria

Introduction

In this study, the frequency of psychiatric comorbidity in children and adolescents who were diagnosed with specific learning disorder, the factors that affect the frequency of comorbidity, the subtypes of specific learning disorder and the effects on cognitive profile have been investigated.

Methods

Our study was performed among 80 cases with the age range 6-15 years who diagnosed with specific learning disorder Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department between January and June 2015. In the study, DSM-IV Based Screening and Evaluation Scale for Child and Adolescent Behavioral Disorders, Specific Learning Disability Evaluation Scale and the WISC-R test were performed. During the interview, reading-writing-math abilities evaluation list (error analysis) was performed in order to define the specific learning disorder subgroup and to evaluate the detailed error profile of the specific learning disorder subgroup. Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-age Children-Present and Lifetime Turkish Version (KSADS) was performed to detect psychiatric comorbidity diagnoses.

Results

92.5% of the cases have a comorbid psychiatric disorder. The most frequent psychiatric comorbidity was attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (82.3%), followed by specific phobia (46.3%), oppositional defiant disorder (26.3%), enuresis (25%) and tic disorders (22.5%). Psychiatric comorbidity is detected more often in patients with specific learning disorder accompanied by attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder. The most frequent subtype of specific learning disorder is combined type disorder consisting of reading, writing and math disorder (37.5%). The WISC-R score of the patients who had math disorder were found to be lower than the others, and also it was detected that they learned reading and writing later, and have more comorbid psychiatric disorders.

Conclusion

The results of our study indicate that associated psychiatric disorders are frequent with specific learning disorder. Specific learning disorder should not be considered as a single disorder, but should be assessed and treated with comorbid psychiatric disorders.

The Probable Prevalence and Sociodemographic Characteristics of Specific Learning Disorder in Primary School Children in Edirne

Introduction

The aim of this study was to research the probable prevalence of Specific Learning Disorder (SLD) in primary school children in Edirne City and the relationships with their sociodemographic characteristics.

Methods

The sample of our study was composed of 2,174 children who were educated in primary schools in second, third, and fourth grades in the academic year 2013-2014 in Edirne City. The teachers and parents of these children were given Specific Learning Difficulties Symptom Scale, Learning Disabilities Symptoms Checklist (teacher and parent forms), and sociodemographic data forms to fill in. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to assess the risk factors for SLD.

Results

Our study revealed that the probable prevalence of SLD was 13.6%; 17% for boys and 10.4% for girls. Reading impairment was 3.6%, writing impairment was 6.9%, and mathematic impairment was 6.5%. We determined that consanguineous marriages, low income, history of neonatal jaundice were found as risks for SLD; born by caesarean, developmental delay of walking, and history of neonatal jaundice were found as risks for mathematic impairment. A history of learning difficulties of parents was a risk factor for forming SLD and subtypes.

Conclusion

Our findings were consistent with other study results about the prevalence of SLD. The relationships between the probable prevalence rates and sociodemographic data were discussed.