Borderline Intellectual Functioning and Vulnerability in Education, Employment and Family

The lives of people with borderline intellectual functioning (BIF) were retrospectively examined with a population-based sample (N = 416,973), ‘Finland-in-Miniature’. Results were compared to those of the general population, to people with mild intellectual disability (MID), and people with learning problems (LP). Results showed that people with BIF had fewer partnerships, lesser employment, and fewer cases of completing secondary school education than peers in general population. They also had higher rates of unemployment and disability pensions. Regarding family, education, and work, people with MID showed lower rates, and those with LP showed higher rates, than people with BIF. It was concluded that people with BIF are more vulnerable than their peers in the general population regarding partnership, education, and work. It is essential that society supports employment for people with BIF. Retrospective utilisation of existing databases is proposed as a promising method of research to widening an understanding of BIF.peerReviewe

ADHD symptoms and maladaptive achievement strategies : the reciprocal prediction of academic performance beyond the transition to middle school

This longitudinal study examined how two externalising behaviour problems, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and conduct disorder (CDs), are associated over time with low motivation (MAS), and how these problems effect academic performance. In our cross-lagged analysis, we found reciprocal effects between ADHD symptoms and MAS between Grades 5 and 6. Both domains also negatively predicted later academic performance. With CDs and MAS, no cross-lagged effects were found, although both were correlated and very stable over time, and negatively predicted later academic performance. These different kinds of externalising problem behaviours seem to differ in the way in which they interact with students’ MAS and academic performance in the long term. Students with ADHD symptoms are likely to be more vulnerable to negative learning experiences and the development of MAS than students with CDs.peerReviewe

ADHD-symptoms and transition to middle school : the effects of academic and social adjustment

This longitudinal study examined the cross-lagged relationships of ADHD symptoms, school adjustment and academic performance during the transition from primary to middle school (Grades 6–7) in a Finnish community sample (N = 311). We found that the mechanisms were different for boys and girls: for boys (N = 149) the effect ADHD symptoms had on academic performance mediated via maladaptive achievement strategies, but for girls (N = 162) the effects on lowering Grade 7 academic performance were direct. In addition, ADHD symptoms were associated with SES and pedagogical support only among boys.peerReviewe

Psychiatric Problems in Adolescence Mediate the Association Between Childhood Learning Disabilities and Later Well-Being

This follow-up study investigated the associations of childhood learning disabilities (LDs) with adult-age anxiety, depression, and unemployment. Psychosocial problems in childhood and psychiatric diagnoses and lack of education in adolescence were studied as potential mediators, and gender and mother’s education as potential moderators of these associations. Data on childhood clinical neuropsychological assessments and lifelong register data on individuals with childhood LD (n = 430; 301 [70%] males; 20–39 years of age) and matched controls (n = 2,149) were applied. Mediation analyses were performed using structural equation modeling. Childhood LDs exerted a significant, but relatively small effect on psychiatric diagnoses in adolescence, which predicted adult-age depression and anxiety. LDs were related to unemployment both directly and via psychiatric diagnoses in adolescence. Examination of differences in the effects on adult-age outcomes of subtypes of LDs revealed mathematical disability to be more strongly associated with psychosocial problems in childhood and psychiatric problems in adolescence and adulthood than reading disability. Our findings show that LD has small and mostly indirect effects on the risk for later well-being problems. The findings emphasize the importance of adolescence in predicting adult-age psychiatric and employment problems and call for more holistic support for individuals with LDs.peerReviewe

Rapid automatized naming and learning disabilities: Does RAN have a specific connection to reading or not?

This work is an extension of a study by Waber, Wolff, Forbes, and Weiler (2000) in which the specificity of naming speed deficits to reading disability (RD) was examined. One hundred ninety-three children (ages 8 to 11) evaluated for learning disabilities were studied. It was determined how well rapid automatized naming (RAN) discriminated between different diagnostic groups (learning impaired [LI] with and without RD) from controls and from each other. Whereas Waber et al. concluded that RAN was an excellent tool for detecting risk for learning disabilities in general, the results of the present study point to a more specific connection between RAN and RD.peerReviewe