What are the long-term prospects for children with comprehension weaknesses? a registered report investigating education and employment outcomes

Reading is a key gateway to learning, enabling independent access to a range of educational materials. Thus, reading difficulties leave a child particularly vulnerable to academic problems in later schooling and beyond. However, while there is good awareness of children with word reading difficulties within the education system, much less is known about the children who struggle to comprehend texts despite having adequate word reading skills. In this registered report, we investigated the later education and occupational outcomes of 947 children initially identified as having poor reading comprehension at 8-9 years from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), compared to peers not identified as having a specific reading difficulty (n = 4,516) and those with word reading weaknesses (n = 1,383). We observed that children with comprehension weaknesses (1) were less likely than typical readers to meet UK national educational targets as they progressed through education, with more marked differences for mathematics and science than English; (2) had poorer qualifications at the point of leaving compulsory education, which were comparable to children with word reading weaknesses; and (3) were the group at greatest risk of being out of employment, education and training at age 20. However, there was considerable variability in outcomes, with much of the risk shared with socio-demographic factors. The results address an important gap in knowledge regarding the functional consequences of reading comprehension difficulties in mid-childhood, and inform discussions concerning the need for identification and targeted support in classroom settings

Concurrent and longitudinal associations of developmental language disorder with peer victimization in adolescence: evidence from a co-twin study

Background: Children with developmental language disorder (DLD) experience higher levels of peer victimization than their peers. However, it is not known if such associations reflect genetic and environmental confounding. We used a co-twin control design to investigate the association of language difficulties (DLD and separately poor pragmatic language) with peer victimization and compare the developmental trajectories of peer victimization across adolescence for those with and without language difficulties. Methods: Participants were 3,400 pairs of twins in the Twins Early Development Study (TEDS), a UK-based population birth cohort. Language abilities were assessed via online tests at age 11 and peer victimization was self-reported at ages 11, 14 and 16. Language difficulties were defined as language abilities at least −1.25 SD below the mean of the TEDS sample. We performed linear regressions and latent growth curve modeling at a population level and within monozygotic and same-sex dizygotic twin pairs. Results: At population level, youth with DLD experienced higher levels of peer victimization at ages 11 (β = 0.27, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 0.20–0.35), 14 (β = 0.15, 95% CI 0.03–0.27) and 16 (β = 0.17, 95% CI 0.03–0.32) and a sharper decline in peer victimization between ages 11 and 16 compared to their peers without DLD. The associations between DLD and peer victimization were reduced in strength and not statistically significant in within-twin models. Moreover, there was no difference in the rate of change in peer victimization between twin pairs discordant for DLD. Results were similar for the association of poor pragmatic language with peer victimization. Conclusions: Associations between language difficulties (DLD and separately, poor pragmatic language) and peer victimization were confounded by genetic and shared environmental factors. Identifying specific factors underlying these associations is important for guiding future work to reduce peer victimization among adolescents with language difficulties

Heterogeneity in children’s reading comprehension difficulties : a latent class approach

Background Poor comprehenders are traditionally identified as having below-average reading comprehension, average-range word reading, and a discrepancy between the two. While oral language tends to be low in poor comprehenders, reading is a complex trait and heterogeneity may go undetected by group-level comparisons. Methods We took a preregistered data-driven approach to identify poor comprehenders and examine whether multiple distinct cognitive profiles underlie their difficulties. Latent mixture modelling identified reading profiles in 6,846 children from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, based on reading and listening comprehension assessments at 8-9 years. A second mixture model examined variation in the cognitive profiles of weak comprehenders, using measures of reading, language, working memory, nonverbal ability, and inattention. Results A poor comprehender profile was not identified by the preregistered model. However, by additionally controlling for overall ability, a 6-class model emerged that incorporated a profile with relatively weak comprehension (N=947, 13.83%). Most of these children had weak reading comprehension in the context of good passage reading, accompanied by weaknesses in vocabulary and nonverbal ability. A small subgroup showed more severe comprehension difficulties in the context of additional cognitive impairments. Conclusions Isolated impairments in specific components of reading are rare, yet a data-driven approach can be used to identify children with relatively weak comprehension. Vocabulary and nonverbal ability were most consistently weak within this group, with broader cognitive difficulties also apparent for a subset of children. These findings suggest that poor comprehension is best characterised along a continuum, and considered in light of multiple risks that influence severity