Consequences of childhood reading difficulties and behaviour problems for educational achievement and employment in early adulthood

Abstract

The findings point to the importance of screening and early intervention to prevent or minimize the development of these two childhood problems, as well as continuing to support vulnerable children to increase their likelihood of secondary school completion.

Social mediators of relationships between childhood reading difficulties, behaviour problems, and secondary school noncompletion

“…Using these criteria, four groups were formed: RD + BP ( n = 38, 66% male), RDs‐only ( n = 38, 37% male), BPs‐only ( n = 66, 58% male), and Neither ( n = 125, 35% male). The nonsignificant differences between RD + BP and BPs‐only girls, or RDs‐only and Neither boys, in BPs at 7–8 years (Sanson et al, ) and our previous analyses showing that modification of the cutoffs did not affect the findings (Smart et al, ) support the use of modified cutoffs to increase statistical power. Table displays group profiles on RDs and BPBPs at 7–8 years.…”

“…Thus, scores for some RD + BP girls were not in the high range by parent report although they were by teacher reports. As noted earlier, there were no significant differences between RD + BP and BPs‐only girls in the severity of BPs at 7–8 years, and results did not differ substantively when analyses were conducted using original and modified groups (Smart et al, ). Modification of the cutoffs, therefore, appears to have had limited effect although it is still possible that the impact of BPs in girls has been somewhat underestimated.…”

“…However, Australian Temperament Project (ATP) findings show that the presence of either problem elevates risk. Just under 20% of adolescents with prior RDs‐only or BPs‐only did not complete secondary school compared with 5% of adolescents without these childhood problems (Smart et al, ). The risk from co‐occurring problems was much higher, with more than half of those with child RDs + BPs not completing secondary school.…”

“…This article examines whether key school, family, and peer attachments mediate risk relationships between childhood RDs, BPs, and secondary school noncompletion. The context for the research is the longitudinal ATP, which has previously examined developmental pathways between childhood RDs and BPs (Prior, Sanson, Smart, & Oberklaid, ; Sanson, Prior, & Smart, ; Smart, Sanson, & Prior, ) and the consequences of the two childhood problems for adolescent and early adult outcomes (Smart, Prior, Sanson & Oberklaid, 2001; Smart et al, ).…”

Specific learning disability

“…After time, there is a risk of losing motivation, giving up, avoiding hurt Adaptive [6][7][8][9][10][11] Maladaptive adjustment over time, such as behaviour that is disruptive or antisocial, or coping strategies such as substance abuse Adult [12][13][14][15][16] Risk in many areas of adult function beyond learning, including mental and physical health, social relationships, vocational achievement, criminal behaviour…”