Does health literacy explain the link between structural stratifiers and adolescent health?

Abstract Background The concept of health literacy (HL) may help us to better understand the mechanisms leading to health disparities, and to focus on the factors that can be influenced. However, not much is yet known about how HL is related to health disparities, or whether the association exists among adolescents. The aim of the study was to examine the associations between structural stratifiers, HL and health indicators among adolescents. Methods The nationally representative Finnish Health Behaviour in School-aged Children survey data (n=3833) were collected from 13- and 15-year-old pupils in the spring of 2014. Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated, and separate path models…

Kindergarten pre-reading skills predict Grade 9 reading comprehension (PISA Reading) but fail to explain gender difference

AbstractOne of the aims for compulsory education is to diminish or alleviate differences in children’s skills existing prior to school entry. However, a growing gender gap in reading development has increasingly been documented. Regrettably, there is scant evidence on whether differences between genders (favouring girls) have their roots in pre-reading skills or whether determining mechanisms are related to factors to do with schooling. We examined the extent to which pre-reading skills assessed in Kindergarten (age 6) predict reading comprehension in Grade 9 (age 15) and, whether the gender difference in reading comprehension can be explained by gender differences in the Kindergarten pre-r…

Longitudinal Effects of the Home Learning Environment and Parental Difficulties on Reading and Math Development Across Grades 1–9

This study focuses on parental reading and mathematical difficulties, the home literacy environment, and the home numeracy environment as well as their predictive role in Finnish children’s reading and mathematical development through Grades 1–9. We examined if parental reading and mathematical difficulties directly predict children’s academic performance and/or if they are mediated by the home learning environment. Mothers (n = 1590) and fathers (n = 1507) reported on their reading and mathematical difficulties as well as on the home environment (shared reading, teaching literacy, and numeracy) when their children were in kindergarten. Tests for reading fluency, reading comprehension, and …

Reading outcomes of children with delayed early vocabulary: A follow-up from age 2-16.

Abstract Background Delays in expressive vocabulary have been associated with lower outcomes in reading. Aim The aim is to conduct a long-term follow-up study to investigate if early expressive vocabulary delay (late talking) predicts reading development in participants age 16 and under. We examine further if the prediction is different in the presence of family risk for dyslexia (FR) and early receptive vocabulary delay. Methods Expressive and receptive vocabulary skills were assessed at the age of 2–2.5 years, and reading skills in Grades 2, 3, 8 and 9 (age 8–16). The longitudinal sample consisted of 200 Finnish-speaking children, of which 108 had FR for dyslexia and 92 came from families…

The role of parenting styles and teacher interactional styles in children's reading and spelling development.

Abstract This study examined the associations between parenting styles, teacher interactional styles, and children's reading and spelling skills. The sample consisted of 864 Finnish-speaking children and their parents (864 mothers, 864 fathers) and teachers ( N  = 123). Children's risk for reading disabilities and reader status were assessed in kindergarten. Children were also tested on reading and spelling skills in Grades 1 and 2. Parenting styles and teacher interactional styles were measured using parents' and teachers' self-reports in Grade 1. First, the results indicated that both an authoritative parenting style and authoritative teacher interactional style positively predicted child…

Development of Numeracy and Literacy Skills in Early Childhood—A Longitudinal Study on the Roles of Home Environment and Familial Risk for Reading and Math Difficulties

This study examines the direct and indirect effects of home numeracy and literacy environment, and parental factors (parental reading and math difficulties, and parental education) on the development of several early numeracy and literacy skills. The 265 participating Finnish children were assessed four times between ages 2.5 and 6.5. Children’s skills in counting objects, number production, number sequence knowledge, number symbol knowledge, number naming, vocabulary, print knowledge, and letter knowledge were assessed individually. Parents (N = 202) reported on their education level, learning difficulties in math and reading (familial risk, FR), and home learning environment separately fo…

Dyslexia—Early Identification and Prevention: Highlights from the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Dyslexia

Over two decades of Finnish research, monitoring children born with risk for dyslexia has been carried out in the Jyvaskyla Longitudinal Study of Dyslexia (JLD). Two hundred children, half at risk, have been assessed from birth to puberty on hundreds of measures. The aims were to identify measures of prediction of later reading difficulty and to instigate appropriate and earliest diagnosis and intervention. We can identify at-risk children from newborn electroencephalographic brain recordings (Guttorm et al., J Neural Transm 110:1059–1074, 2003). Predictors are also apparent from late-talking infants who have familial background of dyslexia (Lyytinen and Lyytinen, Appl Psycolinguistics 25:3…

Parental Literacy Predicts Children's Literacy: A Longitudinal Family-Risk Study

This family-risk (FR) study examined whether the literacy skills of parents with dyslexia are predictive of the literacy skills of their offspring. We report data from 31 child-parent dyads where both had dyslexia (FR-D) and 68 dyads where the child did not have dyslexia (FR-ND). Findings supported the differences in liability of FR children with and without dyslexia: the parents of the FR-D children had more severe difficulties in pseudoword reading and spelling accuracy, in rapid word recognition, and in text reading fluency than the parents of the FR-ND children. Finally, parental skills were found to be significant predictors of children's Grade 3 reading and spelling. Parental skills p…

Examining the Double-Deficit Hypothesis in an Orthographically Consistent Language

We examined the double-deficit hypothesis in Finnish. One hundred five Finnish children with high familial risk for dyslexia and 90 children with low family risk were followed from the age of 3½ years until Grade 3. Children's phonological awareness, rapid naming speed, text reading, and spelling were assessed. A deficit in rapid automatized naming (RAN) predicted slow reading speed across time and spelling difficulties after Grade 1. A deficit in phonological awareness predicted difficulties in spelling, but only in the familial risk sample. The effect of familial risk was significant in the development of phonological awareness, RAN, reading, and spelling. Our findings suggest that the ba…

Modeling the early paths of phonological awareness and factors suopporting its development in children with and without familiar risk of dyslexia

The development of phonological awareness (PA) before school age was modeled in association with the development of vocabulary and letter knowledge, home literacy environment (HLE), children's reading interest, and beginning reading skill in children with and without familial risk of dyslexia. A total of 186 children were followed from birth to the age of 6.5 years. Of these children, about half had a familial background of reading difficulties (the at-risk group), and the other half came from families without such background (the control group). The data from several measures and assessment time points were analyzed within an SEM framework, and a latent analysis of growth curves was employ…

A Register Study Suggesting Homotypic and Heterotypic Comorbidity Among Individuals With Learning Disabilities

The present study examined whether learning disabilities (LD) in reading and/or math (i.e., reading disability [RD], math disability [MD], and RD+MD) co-occur with other diagnoses. The data comprised a clinical sample (n= 430) with LD identified in childhood and a sample of matched controls (n= 2,140). Their medical diagnoses (according to the International Classification of Diseases nosology) until adulthood (20–39 years) were analyzed. The co-occurrence of LD with neurodevelopmental disorders was considered a homotypic comorbidity, and co-occurrence with disorders or diseases from the other diagnostic categories (i.e., mental and behavioral disorders, diseases of the nervous system, injur…

Health asset profiles and health indicators among 13- and 15-year-old adolescents

Objectives We examined the associations between adolescents’ health assets and various health indicators (smoking, alcohol use, sleep length, physical activity, healthy eating, oral health, self-reported health, multiple health complaints). Methods A nationally representative sample was drawn from Finnish-speaking schools, comprising 13- and 15-year-old adolescents (n = 3833). The measures taken covered the adolescents’ health assets, which were labelled Family-financial, Psychological, Family-social, Friends-social, School-social, and Human. Our analysis applied two-step cluster analysis and multilevel mixed-effects binary logistic regression. Results Six asset profiles were identified: ‘L…

The precursors of double dissociation between reading and spelling in a transparent orthography.

Research and clinical practitioners have mixed views whether reading and spelling difficulties should be combined or seen as separate. This study examined the following: (a) if double dissociation between reading and spelling can be identified in a transparent orthography (Finnish) and (b) the cognitive and noncognitive precursors of this phenomenon. Finnish-speaking children (n = 1963) were assessed on reading fluency and spelling in grades 1, 2, 3, and 4. Dissociation groups in reading and spelling were formed based on stable difficulties in grades 1–4. The groups were compared in kindergarten phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming, letter knowledge, home literacy environment, a…

Parental influences on the development of single and co-occurring difficulties in reading and arithmetic fluency

This study investigated how single and co-occurring difficulties in reading and arithmetic fluency developed among Finnish children across Grades 1–9 (N = 2151). Latent profile analysis among 391 children who had reading and/or arithmetic fluency difficulties in Grade 9 revealed profiles that followed three distinct patterns: reading difficulties (N = 121), mathematical difficulties (N = 94), and comorbid difficulties (N = 176). The profiles and typical performers were compared on parental reading and mathematical difficulties, parental education, the early home learning environment, and parental assistance with school homework across Grades 1–9. Results showed that although parents whose c…

How Are Practice and Performance Related? Development of Reading From Age 5 to 15

Does reading a lot lead to better reading skills, or does reading a lot follow from high initial reading skills? The authors present a longitudinal study of how much children choose to read and how well they decode and comprehend texts. This is the first study to examine the codevelopment of print exposure with both fluency and comprehension throughout childhood using autocorrelations. Print exposure was operationalized as children’s amount of independent reading for pleasure. Two hundred children were followed from age 5 to age 15. Print exposure was assessed at ages 5, 7, 8, 9, and 13. Prereading skills were tested at age 5 and reading skills at ages 7, 8, 9, 14, and 15 (the latter with t…

Interpersonal Counseling in the Treatment of Adolescent Depression: A Randomized Controlled Effectiveness and Feasibility Study in School Health and Welfare Services

AbstractIn order to offer early and accessible treatment for adolescents with depression, brief and effective treatments in adolescents’ everyday surroundings are needed. This randomized controlled trial studied the preliminary effectiveness, feasibility, and acceptability of interpersonal counseling (IPC) and brief psychosocial support (BPS) in school health and welfare services. The study was conducted in the 28 lower secondary schools of a large city in Southern Finland, randomized to provide either IPC or BPS. Help-seeking 12–16-year-old adolescents with mild-to-moderate depression, with and without comorbid anxiety, were included in the study. Fifty-five adolescents received either 6 w…

Longitudinal Stability of Reading Difficulties : Examining the Effects of Measurement Error, Cut-Offs, and Buffer Zones in Identification

This study examined the stability of reading difficulties (RD) from grades 2 to 6 and focused on the effects of measurement error and cut-off selection in the identification of RD and its stability with the use of simulations. It addressed methodological limitations of prior studies by (a) applying a model-based simulation analysis to examine the effects of measurement error and cut-offs in the identification of RD, (b) analyzing a non-English and larger sample, and (c) examining RD in both reading fluency and reading comprehension. Reading fluency and reading comprehension of 1,432 Finnish-speaking children were assessed in grades 2 and 6. In addition to the use of single cut-off points on…

Simple view of reading across the transition from kindergarten to Grade 1 in a transparent orthography

Purpose: This longitudinal study investigated the simple view of reading (SVR) model and its cognitive basis in a transparent orthography of the Lithuanian across the transition from kindergarten to Grade 1. Method: The language and early literacy skills of 229 children (Mage = 6.79, SD = .47) were tested at the end of kindergarten (vocabulary, letter knowledge, phonological awareness, and RAN); listening comprehension and word reading fluency were tested at the start of Grade 1; and reading comprehension was measured at the end of Grade 1. Results: Together with parental education, word reading fluency and listening comprehension predicted reading comprehension (R2 = 43.2%). The second mod…

Leisure Reading (But Not Any Kind) and Reading Comprehension Support Each Other—A Longitudinal Study Across Grades 1 and 9

This study examines associations between leisure reading and reading skills in data of 2,525 students followed from age 7 to 16. As a step further from traditional cross-lagged analysis, a random intercept cross-lagged panel model was used to identify within-person associations of leisure reading (books, magazines, newspapers, and digital reading), reading fluency, and reading comprehension. In Grades 1-3 poorer comprehension and fluency predicted less leisure reading. In later grades more frequent leisure reading, particularly of books, predicted better reading comprehension. Negative associations were found between digital reading and reading skills. The findings specify earlier findings …

The Impact of School Closure on Adolescents’ Wellbeing, and Steps toward to a New Normal : The Need for an Assessment Tool Update?

International audience; Close to 200 countries have implemented school closures to decrease the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. Though the closures have seemed necessary, their effects on the wellbeing of children and adolescents have raised serious concerns. To truly understand the impact of such disruption on young people’s wellbeing, and their views on how to move towards a new normal, we must adopt different approaches to gather the data to secure children’s and adolescents’ rights to be heard in the issues that concern their lives. Current ways to examine the impacts of school closure have been dominated by gathering information concerning the children and adolescents, using mainly…

Reading and Spelling Development Across Languages Varying in Orthographic Consistency: Do Their Paths Cross?

We examined the cross‐lagged relations between reading and spelling in five alphabetic orthographies varying in consistency (English, French, Dutch, German, and Greek). Nine hundred and forty‐one children were followed from Grade 1 to Grade 2 and were tested on word and pseudoword reading fluency and on spelling to dictation. Results indicated that the relations across languages were unidirectional: Earlier reading predicted subsequent spelling. However, we also found significant differences between languages in the strength of the effects of earlier reading on subsequent spelling. These findings suggest that, once children master decoding, the observed differences between languages are not…

Unveiling the Mysteries of Dyslexia-Lessons Learned from the Prospective Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Dyslexia.

This paper reviews the observations of the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Dyslexia (JLD). The JLD is a prospective family risk study in which the development of children with familial risk for dyslexia (N = 108) due to parental dyslexia and controls without dyslexia risk (N = 92) were followed from birth to adulthood. The JLD revealed that the likelihood of at-risk children performing poorly in reading and spelling tasks was fourfold compared to the controls. Auditory insensitivity of newborns observed during the first week of life using brain event-related potentials (ERPs) was shown to be the first precursor of dyslexia. ERPs measured at six months of age related to phoneme length identi…

Interpersonal work resources and school personnel well-being before and after lockdown during the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in Finland

This two-wave mixed-methods study used the job demands and resources model to examine the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on school personnel's work well-being (including burnout, work engagement, and sense of belonging) in spring 2020 in Finland in particular with respect to collegial relationships (respectful engagement) and leadership support. A pre-lockdown survey was administered prior to the pandemic (in January–February, n = 437) and a post-lockdown survey was administered after the two-month lockdown (at the end of May, n = 270). At post-lockdown, the school personnel reported, on average, more exhaustion, less work engagement (measured as enthusiasm and energy at work), and a decr…

sj-docx-1-ldx-10.1177_00222194221150230 – Supplemental material for A Register Study Suggesting Homotypic and Heterotypic Comorbidity Among Individuals With Learning Disabilities

Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-ldx-10.1177_00222194221150230 for A Register Study Suggesting Homotypic and Heterotypic Comorbidity Among Individuals With Learning Disabilities by Tuija Aro, Reeta Neittaanmäki, Elisa Korhonen, Heli Riihimäki and Minna Torppa in Journal of Learning Disabilities

Psychosocial Functioning of Children with and without Dyslexia: A Follow-up Study from Ages Four to Nine

This longitudinal study compares developmental changes in psychosocial functioning during the transition into school of children with and without dyslexia. In addition, it examines the effects of gender and family risk for dyslexia in terms of the associations between dyslexia and psychosocial functioning. Children's psychosocial functioning (social skills, inattention and externalizing and internalizing problems) was evaluated by their parents at ages 4, 6 and 9, and diagnosis for dyslexia was made at age 8 (in grade 2). The findings indicated that children with dyslexia were already rated as having poorer social skills and being more inattentive than were typical readers before their entr…

Literacy Skill Development of Children With Familial Risk for Dyslexia Through Grades 2, 3, and 8

This study followed the development of reading speed, reading accuracy, and spelling in transparent Finnish orthography in children through Grades 2, 3, and 8. We compared 2 groups of children with familial risk for dyslexia—1 group with dyslexia (Dys_FR, n = 35) and 1 group without (NoDys_FR, n = 66) in Grade 2—with a group of children without familial risk for dyslexia (controls, n = 72). The Dys_FR group showed persistent deficiency, especially in reading speed, and, to a minor extent, in reading and spelling accuracy. The Dys_FR children, contrary to the other 2 groups, relied heavily on letter-by-letter decoding in Grades 2 and 3. In children not fulfilling the criteria for dyslexia in…

Symptoms of psychological ill-being and school dropout intentions among upper secondary education students : a person-centered approach

A person-centered approach was used to identify the profiles of symptoms of psychological ill-being among Finnish upper secondary education students (N = 2889); to examine whether gender and educational track (i.e., academic or vocational) are associated with these profiles; and to investigate the role of profiles in school dropout intentions. Using latent profile analysis, one asymptomatic profile (normative, 79.2%) and three symptomatic profiles (internalizing symptoms, 9.1%; externalizing symptoms, 9.1%; and comorbid symptoms, 2.6%) were identified. Boys in the vocational track were overrepresented in the externalizing-symptoms profile, whereas girls in both tracks were overrepresented i…

University Students with Reading Difficulties: Do Perceived Supports and Comorbid Difficulties Predict Well-Being and GPA?

We examined the impact of the number of comorbid difficulties, social support, and community support on life satisfaction and academic achievement among 120 university students or recent graduates with self-reported reading difficulties. Participants completed a questionnaire assessing perceived social support, perceived community support, the number of comorbid difficulties in addition to reading difficulty, life satisfaction, and academic achievement (grade point average). Results supported a main effect model in which the number of comorbid difficulties and social, but not community, support predicted life satisfaction. Social and community support did not moderate the relationship betwe…

Leisure Reading (But Not Any Kind) and Reading Comprehension Support Each Other : A Longitudinal Study Across Grades 1 and 9

This study examines associations between leisure reading and reading skills in data of 2,525 students followed from age 7 to 16. As a step further from traditional cross‐lagged analysis, a random intercept cross‐lagged panel model was used to identify within‐person associations of leisure reading (books, magazines, newspapers, and digital reading), reading fluency, and reading comprehension. In Grades 1–3 poorer comprehension and fluency predicted less leisure reading. In later grades more frequent leisure reading, particularly of books, predicted better reading comprehension. Negative associations were found between digital reading and reading skills. The findings specify earlier findings …

Language development, literacy skills and predictive connections to reading in Finnish children with and without familial risk for dyslexia

Discriminative language markers and predictive links between early language and literacy skills were investigated retrospectively in the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Dyslexia in which children at familial risk for dyslexia have been followed from birth. Three groups were formed on the basis of 198 children’s reading and spelling status. One group of children with reading disability (RD; n = 46) and two groups of typical readers from nondyslexic control (TRC; n = 84) and dyslexic families (TRD; n = 68) were examined from age 1.5 years to school age. The RD group was outperformed by typical readers on numerous language and literacy measures (expressive and receptive language, morphology, …

GraphoLearn India : The Effectiveness of a Computer-Assisted Reading Intervention in Supporting Struggling Readers of English

India, a country with a population of more than 1.3 billion individuals, houses the world’s second largest educational system. Despite this, 100 of millions of individuals in India are still illiterate. As English medium education sweeps the country, many are forced to learn in a language which is foreign to them. Those living in poverty further struggle to learn English as it tends to be a language which they have no prior exposure to and no support at home for. Low-quality schools and poor instructional methods further exacerbate the problem. Without access to quality education, these individuals continue to struggle and are ultimately never given the chance to break the cycle of poverty.…

Modeling the Early Paths of Phonological Awareness and Factors Supporting its Development in Children With and Without Familial Risk of Dyslexia

The development of phonological awareness (PA) before school age was modeled in association with the development of vocabulary and letter knowledge, home literacy environment (HLE), children's reading interest, and beginning reading skill in children with and without familial risk of dyslexia. A total of 186 children were followed from birth to the age of 6.5 years. Of these children, about half had a familial background of reading difficulties (the at-risk group), and the other half came from families without such background (the control group). The data from several measures and assessment time points were analyzed within an SEM framework, and a latent analysis of growth curves was employ…

Literacy skills seem to fuel literacy enjoyment, rather than vice versa

Children who like to read and write tend to be better at it. This association is typically interpreted as enjoyment impacting engagement in literacy activities, which boosts literacy skills. We fitted direction-of-causation models to partial data of 3690 Finnish twins aged 12. Literacy skills were rated by the twins' teachers and literacy enjoyment by the twins themselves. A bivariate twin model showed substantial genetic influences on literacy skills (70%) and literacy enjoyment (35%). In both skills and enjoyment, shared-environmental influences explained about 20% in each. The best-fitting direction-of-causation model showed that skills impacted enjoyment, while the influence in the othe…

Varhaiset kielelliset taidot ja suvussa kulkeva lukivaikeus lukutaidon ennustamisessa : seurantatutkimus 2-vuotiaasta 15-vuotiaaksi

Detection of sound rise time by adults with dyslexia

Low sensitivity to amplitude modulated (AM) sounds is reported to be associated with dyslexia. An important aspect of amplitude modulation cycles are the rise and fall times within the sound. In this study, simplified stimuli equivalent to just one cycle were used and sensitivity to varying rise times was explored. Adult participants with dyslexia or compensated dyslexia and a control group performed a detection task with sound pairs of different rise times. Results showed that the participants with dyslexia differed from the control group in rise time detection and a correlation was found between rise time detection and reading and phonological skills. A subgroup of participants with lower…

Predicting Reading Disability: Early Cognitive Risk and Protective Factors

This longitudinal study examined early cognitive risk and protective factors for Grade 2 reading disability (RD). We first examined the reading outcome of 198 children in four developmental cognitive subgroups that were identified in our previous analysis: dysfluent trajectory, declining trajectory, unexpected trajectory and typical trajectory. We found that RD was unevenly distributed among the subgroups, although children with RD were found in all subgroups. A majority of the children with RD had familial risk for dyslexia. Second, we examined in what respect children with similar early cognitive development but different RD outcome differ from each other in cognitive skills, task-focused…

Koulujen henkilökunnan kokemukset oppilaiden hyvinvoinnista COVID-19-etäkouluaikana : "Osa puhkesi kukkaan. Muutamat pitivät rimaa alhaalla."

Koulun henkilökunnan kokemuksiin etäkouluajalta tulee perehtyä, jotta etäkoulu voidaan toteuttaa oppilaiden hyvinvointia ja oppimista tukien. Kyselytutkimuksella selvitimme Keski-Suomen koulujen henkilökunnan (270 vastausta 27 peruskoulusta) ajatuksia oppilaiden hyvinvoinnista etäkoulussa sekä sen myönteisistä ja kielteisistä puolista oppilaille. Temaattisen analyysin perusteella etäkoulu nähtiin uuden oppimisen ja kehittymisen ajanjaksona; monen oppilaan tietotekniset taidot ja itseohjaavuus kehittyivät. Sosiaalinen vuorovaikutus muutti muotoaan, mikä toi monista oppilaista esille uusia puolia. Oppilas-opettaja-vuorovaikutuksen koettiin kehittyneen erilaisten ja yksilöllisempien yhteydenpi…

Reading comprehension from grade 1 to 6 in two shallow orthographies: comparison of Estonian and Finnish students

The aim was to examine reading comprehension among elementary school students in two shallow orthographies, Estonian and Finnish. Participants were 619 Estonian children (50% boys) and 292 Finnish children (52% boys) whose reading comprehension was assessed in first, second, third, and sixth grades. The results showed that reading comprehension among Estonian and Finnish children was at a similar level by the end of first grade but Finnish children started to have better performance from second grade onward. These findings suggest that the roots of Finnish students’ strong reading skills are nurtured from the very beginning of elementary school. The potential cross-country differences in re…

The cross-national measurement invariance of the health literacy for school-aged children (HLSAC) instrument

Background Health literacy (HL) is an important determinant of health and health behaviours, and there is a need to monitor HL levels among all population groups. It is therefore essential to develop instruments to assess HL during childhood and adolescence. The aim of this study was to examine the cross-national measurement invariance of the instrument Health Literacy for School-aged Children (HLSAC) in four European countries. Methods The data were collected via standardized self-administered anonymous questionnaires within classrooms in Finland, Poland, Slovakia, and Belgium. There were in total 1468 respondents (aged 13, N = 690; aged 15, N = 778). The HLSAC instrument was used to measu…

Kommenttipuheenvuoro kirjoitukseen "Suomalainen ja kiinalainen koulutusjärjestelmä PISA-tutkimuksessa menestymisen taustalla"

Suomen PISA-menestys on ollut suuri uutinen paitsi Suomessa myös Suomen ulkopuolella. Suomea vielä paremmin PISAssa ovat menestyneet Kiinan suuret kaupungit Shanghai ja Hongkong sekä Aasian maat Singapore, Korea ja Japani. Matematiikassa myös Taiwan on selvästi Suomea parempi maa. (Kupari ym., 2013.) Hyvän menestyksen syyt ovat herättäneet laajaa kiinnostusta. Xin Tang pyrki omassa puheenvuorossaan avaamaan Suomen ja Kiinan menestyksen syitä ja eroja. Tässä kommenttipuheenvuorossa tarjoamme oman näkökulmamme asiaan. nonPeerReviewed

Early cognitive predictors of PISA reading in children with and without family risk for dyslexia

Abstract This study examined language skills and pre-literacy skills (phonological awareness, rapid naming, and letter knowledge) before school-age as predictors of PISA reading at age 15 in two groups of children, with (n = 88) and without (n  = 70) family-risk for dyslexia . Moreover, effects of family-risk on these early predictors, reading fluency , and PISA reading were examined while controlling the effect of gender. Children were followed from age 2 to 15. Family-risk had a significant effect on early language and pre-literacy skills, reading fluency and PISA reading. A similar model predicting PISA reading fitted the data well in the Family-risk and the No family-risk group. Languag…

Muutostrendien tarkastelu nuorten koulumotivaatiossa ja -hyvinvoinnissa : kohorttitutkimus yli kolmen ajankohdan

Tässä kohorttitutkimuksessa tarkasteltiin seitsemäsluokkalaisten koulumotivaation sekä kouluhyvinvoinnin tason muutoksia yli kolmen ajankohdan (vuodet 2007, 2010 ja 2014). Vuosien 2007 (N=339) ja 2010 (N=266) aineistot edustavat kahta kohorttia Lapsen Kielen Kehitys-seurannan osallistujista, ja vuoden 2014 (N=1167) aineisto on osa Alkuportaatseurantaa. Tulokset osoittivat, että seitsemäsluokkalaisten kohorteissa koulumotivaatio ja - hyvinvointi muuttuivat vain vähän ajankohdasta toiseen. Nuorten matematiikan arvostus lisääntyi hieman, mutta kiinnostus äidinkieleen heikentyi. Nuorten ilmaisemissa koulutuspyrkimyksissä tapahtui muutosta: yliopisto koulutuspyrkimyksenä oli tyypillisempi ja amm…

Predictors of outcome after a time-limited psychosocial intervention for adolescent depression.

Research on the predictors of outcome for early, community-based, and time-limited interventions targeted for clinical depression in adolescents is still scarce. We examined the role of demographic, psychosocial, and clinical variables as predictors of outcome in a trial conducted in Finnish school health and welfare services to identify factors associating to symptom reduction and remission after a brief depression treatment. A total of 55 12–16-year-olds with mild to moderate depression received six sessions of either interpersonal counseling for adolescents (IPC-A) or brief psychosocial support (BPS). Both interventions resulted in clinical improvement at end of treatment and 3- and 6-mo…

Reading Difficulties Identification : A Comparison of Neural Networks, Linear, and Mixture Models

Purpose We aim to identify the most accurate model for predicting adolescent (Grade 9) reading difficulties (RD) in reading fluency and reading comprehension using 17 kindergarten-age variables. Three models (neural networks, linear, and mixture) were compared based on their accuracy in predicting RD. We also examined whether the same or a different set of kindergarten-age factors emerge as the strongest predictors of reading fluency and comprehension difficulties across the models. Method RD were identified in a Finnish sample (N ≈ 2,000) based on Grade 9 difficulties in reading fluency and reading comprehension. The predictors assessed in kindergarten included gender, parental factors (e.…

Reading comprehension difficulty is often distinct from difficulty in reading fluency and accompanied with problems in motivation and school well-being

This paper examined if difficulty in reading comprehension (PISA) is distinct from difficulty in reading fluency and if the distinct types of reading difficulties are differently associated with learning motivation, school burnout, and school enjoyment. The participants were 1324 Finnish ninth graders. Findings suggested that difficulties in reading comprehension are often distinct from difficulties in reading fluency. Three reading difficulty groups were identified: (1) poor readers with both fluency and reading comprehension difficulties (n = 46, 3.5%), (2) slow readers with only fluency difficulties (n = 70, 5.3%), and (3) poor comprehenders with only reading comprehension difficulties (…

Parental literacy predicts children’s literacy: A longitudinal family-risk study

This family-risk (FR) study examined whether the literacy skills of parents with dyslexia are predictive of the literacy skills of their offspring. We report data from 31 child–parent dyads where both had dyslexia (FR-D) and 68 dyads where the child did not have dyslexia (FR-ND). Findings supported the differences in liability of FR children with and without dyslexia: the parents of the FR-D children had more severe difficulties in pseudoword reading and spelling accuracy, in rapid word recognition, and in text reading fluency than the parents of the FR-ND children. Finally, parental skills were found to be significant predictors of children's Grade 3 reading and spelling. Parental skills p…

The development and alignment of pedagogical conceptions of health education

Abstract This study examined the development and alignment of conceptions of health education as a subject, and of its teaching and learning, among Finnish health education student teachers (n = 20). Longitudinal phenomenographic data (essays, interviews) were collected at two time points during health education studies, and at one time point after the participants had gained 1–3 years of work experience. The proportion of participants expressing the most sophisticated pedagogical conceptions decreased during teacher training, but increased after the gaining of work experience. Moreover, fewer than half of the participants expressed pedagogical conceptions that advanced in broad alignment w…

Why do boys and girls perform differently on PISA Reading in Finland? The effects of reading fluency, achievement behaviour, leisure reading and homework activity

The present study examined gender gap in Program for International St udentAssessment (PISA) Reading and mediators of the gender gap in a Finnish sample(n = 1,309). We examined whether the gender gap in PISA Reading performancecan be understood via the effects of reading fl uency, achievement behaviour (masteryorientation and task-avoidant behaviour) or the amount of time spent with leisurereading and homework. Girls outperformed boys in all measures except forachievement behaviour. The models explaining PISA Reading were not different:For boys and girls, reading fluency, mastery orientation, leisure book reading andhomework explained the variance in PISA Reading scores. The gender effect on …

Spelling in Finnish : the case of the double consonant

Because of its regularity, it is relatively easy to learn to read and spell in Finnish. However, a specific hurdle in spelling acquisition seems to be the doubling of consonant letters. In this study on consonant letter doubling spelling in Finnish children (91 Grade 1 and 191 Grade 2 children), we asked two questions. First, are items with double consonant letters (e.g., “kissa” [ˈkisːɑ] ‘cat’) indeed harder to spell than single consonant items (e.g., “kisa” [ˈkisɑ] ‘contest’)? Second, is consonant doubling harder for stop consonants (e.g., “takki” [ˈtɑkːi] ‘coat’) than for continuant consonants (e.g., “kissa&rdq…

Examining the Simple View of Reading in a Transparent Orthography: A Longitudinal Study From Kindergarten to Grade 3

This study examined the dynamic relationships among the components of the Simple View of Reading (SVR) in a transparent orthography (Finnish) and the predictive value of cognitive skills (phonological awareness, letter knowledge, rapid naming, and vocabulary) on the SVR components. Altogether, 1,815 Finnish children were followed from kindergarten to Grade 3. Their cognitive skills were assessed in kindergarten, listening comprehension and reading fluency in Grades 1 and 2, and reading comprehension in Grades 1–3. Reading fluency and listening comprehension accounted for 37% of the variance in reading comprehension in Grade 2 and 28% in Grade 3. The direct effect of reading fluency on readi…

Early Antecedents of School Burnout in Upper Secondary Education : A Five-year Longitudinal Study

AbstractSchool burnout symptoms are prevalent among upper secondary education students, but thus far, very little is known about the background of these symptoms. The present study examined the extent to which school burnout symptoms (i.e., exhaustion and cynicism) among upper secondary education students have their roots in primary and lower secondary school and whether early antecedents of school burnout symptoms could be identified. The sample consisted of 1544 Finnish students followed up four times (Time1–Time 4) from the end of primary school (T1; mean age 12.74 and range 11.71–14.20) to the first year of upper secondary education (T4; mean age 16.66 and range 15.55–18.39). The result…

Early prediction of reading trajectories of children with and without reading instruction in kindergarten : a comparison study of Estonia and Finland

Background: The present study examined differences in the prediction of reading development and reading difficulties in Estonia (n = 348) and Finland (n = 344). These neighbouring countries share many similarities in terms of their language, orthography and educational system; however, they differ in the timing of the onset of reading instruction, which is kindergarten in Estonia and Grade 1 in Finland. Methods: Children's skills were assessed three times – fall and spring in Grade 1 and spring in Grade 2. Results: The results showed that school‐entry rapid automatised naming and reading fluency predicted the development of fluency in Grade 2, but reading fluency was a stronger predictor in…

Screening for Slow Reading Acquisition in Norway and Finland : a Quest for Context Specific Predictors

Early identification of children at risk of developing reading difficulties is crucial for effective interventions. While orthographies and educational contexts differ, predictors included in early at-risk screening tend to remain rather homogeneous across countries. In this study, we compared longitudinal prediction patterns of being among the 20 percent lowest performing in reading fluency by the end of Grade 1 in Norway (N = 918) and Finland (N =378). The two countries differ in orthographic consistency (semi-transparent versus transparent), age at school entry and pre-primary education. Letter knowledge, phoneme isolation and rapid automatized naming (RAN) were unique predictors in the …

Assessing the effectiveness of a game‐based phonics intervention for first and second grade English language learners in India: A randomized controlled trial

Background In 2018, it was found that only a quarter of Grade 3 children in India were reading at grade level. A growing demand for English education has further limited children's literacy achievement. Despite a strong evidence base in favour of using systematic phonics for building English literacy skills, many teachers in India continue to use rote-methods of literacy instruction. Objectives We aimed to examine the efficacy of GraphoLearn (GL) English Rime, a computer-assisted reading intervention, in improving the foundational literacy skills of 1st and 2nd grade students who were attending an English medium school in India. Methods A total of 136 students across 6 classrooms were rando…

Literacy Skill Development of Children With Familial Risk for Dyslexia Through Grades 2, 3, and 8

This study followed the development of reading speed, reading accuracy, and spelling in transparent Finnish orthography through Grades 2, 3, and 8. We compared two groups of children with familial risk for dyslexia, with or without dyslexia in Grade 2 (Dys_FR, n = 35 and NoDys_FR, n = 66) to a group of children without familial risk and dyslexia (Controls, n = 72). The Dys_FR group showed persisting deficiency especially in reading speed, and, to a minor extent, in reading and spelling accuracy. The Dys_FR children, contrary to the other two groups, relied heavily on letter-by-letter decoding in Grades 2 and 3. In children not fulfilling the criteria for dyslexia in Grade 2, the familial ri…

A Comparative Study on Adolescents’ Health Literacy in Europe: Findings from the HBSC Study

(1) Background: There is a need for studies on population-level health literacy (HL) to identify the current state of HL within and between countries. We report comparative findings from 10 European countries (Austria, Belgium (Fl), Czechia, England, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Macedonia, Poland, and Slovakia) on adolescents&rsquo

Double-Deficit Hypothesis in a Clinical Sample : Extension Beyond Reading

This study explored the double-deficit hypothesis (DDH) in a transparent orthography (Finnish) and extended the view from reading disabilities to comorbidity of learning-related problems in math and attention. Children referred for evaluation of learning disabilities in second through sixth grade ( N = 205) were divided into four groups based on rapid automatized naming (RAN) and phonological awareness (PA) according to the DDH: the double-deficit group, the naming speed deficit–only group, the phonological deficit–only group, and the no-deficit group. The results supported the DDH in that the prevalence and severity of reading disability were greatest in the double-deficit group. Despite …

Trajectories of reading development: A follow-up from birth to school age of children with and without risk for dyslexia

In order to understand why some children are vulnerable to difficulties in their language development and their acquisition of reading skill, the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Dyslexia followed 200 Finnish children from birth to school age. Half of these children had a family history of reading problems and were considered at risk for dyslexia; the other half were not at risk. A novel analysis, mixture modeling, revealed four subgroups with differential developmental trajectories to early reading. The subgroups who showed either a “dysfluent trajectory” (n = 12; 11 at risk vs. 1 control) or a “declining trajectory” (n = 35; 24 vs. 11) contained more children with familial risk for dyslexi…

Oppimisvaikeudet ja hyvinvointi

Pathways to reading acquisition : effects of early skills, learning environment and familial risk for dyslexia

Minna Torppa tutki lasten lukemisen ja lukemisvalmiuksien kehittymistä syntymästä kahdeksan vuoden ikään. Hän huomioi sekä ympäristöön että perimään liittyviä riskejä ja suojaavia tekijöitä. Torppa tarkasteli erityisesti äänteiden tunnistamista ja kirjaintuntemusta sekä ympäristötekijöistä kodin lukemisvirikkeitä ja kouluvaiheessa luokkaympäristöä.Lukutaidon oppiminen edellyttää aina kirjoitettua kieltä sisältävän ympäristön. Oppimisen helppouteen vaikuttavat myös lapsen perityt vahvuudet ja heikkoudet erilaisilla taitoalueilla. Lukemisen vaikeuksien onkin havaittu periytyvän. This thesis examined the development of reading and its key predictors. A combination of traditional variable-orien…

Reading development subtypes and their early characteristics.

The present findings are drawn from the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Dyslexia (JLD), in which approximately 100 children with familial risk of dyslexia and 100 control children have been followed from birth. In this paper we report data on the reading development of the JLD children and their classmates, a total of 1,750 children from four measurement points during the first two school years. In the total sample, we examined whether heterogeneous developmental paths can be identified based on profiles of word recognition and reading comprehension. Secondly, we studied what kind of early language and literacy skill profiles and reading experiences characterize the children with differing …

Predicting delayed letter name knowledge and its relation to grade 1 reading achievement in children with and without familial risk for dyslexia

The authors examined the developmental trajectories of children's early letter knowledge in relation to measures spanning and encompassing their prior language-related and cognitive measures and environmental factors and their subsequent Grade 1 reading achievement. Letter knowledge was assessed longitudinally at ages 4.5, 5.0, 5.5, and 6.5 years; earlier language skills and environmental factors were assessed at ages 3.5 and 4.5 years; and reading achievement was assessed at the beginning and end of Grade 1. The analyses were conducted on a longitudinal data set involving children with and without familial risk for dyslexia. Emerging from the trajectory analysis of letter knowledge were 3 …

Very early phonological and language skills: estimating individual risk of reading disability

Background: Analyses from the JyvaskylaLongitudinal Study of Dyslexia project show that the key childhood predictors (phonological awareness, short-term memory, rapid naming, expressive vocabu- lary, pseudoword repetition, and letter naming) of dyslexia differentiate the group with reading disability (n ¼ 46) and the group without reading problems (n ¼ 152) at the end of the 2nd grade. These measures were employed at the ages of 3.5, 4.5 and 5.5 years and information regarding the familial risk of dyslexia was used to find the most sensitive indices of an individual child's risk for reading disabil- ity. Methods: Age-specific and across-age logistic regression models were constructed to pro…

Using a Multidimensional Measure of Resilience to Explain Life Satisfaction and Academic Achievement of Adults With Reading Difficulties.

We assessed the impact of intrapersonal and interpersonal resilience, persistence, and number of difficulties in addition to reading problems on life satisfaction (general, social, and self) and academic achievement. A total of 120 adults with reading difficulties who either were completing a university degree or were recent graduates responded to an in-lab or online survey. Results indicated that intrapersonal resilience correlated positively with interpersonal resilience and persistence, and both resilience factors were negatively associated with number of difficulties. Using structural equation modeling, intrapersonal resilience explained general satisfaction, intrapersonal resilience a…

Early development of children at familial risk for Dyslexia—follow-up from birth to school age

We review the main findings of the Jyväskylä Longitudinal study of Dyslexia (JLD) which follows the development of children at familial risk for dyslexia (N = 107) and their controls (N = 93). We will illustrate the development of these two groups of children at ages from birth to school entry in the skill domains that have been connected to reading and reading disability in the prior literature. At school entry, the highest score on the decoding task among the poorer half (median) of the at risk children--i.e. of those presumably being most likely genetically affected--is 1 SD below the mean of the control group. Thus, the familial risk for dyslexia shows expected consequences. Among the e…

Reading and math skills development among Finnish primary school children before and after COVID-19 school closure

AbstractThis study quantified the possible learning losses in reading and math skills among a sample of Finnish Grade 3 children (n = 198) who spent 8 weeks in distance learning during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020. We compared their reading and math skill development trajectories across Grades 1, 2, and 4 to a pre-COVID sample (N = 378). We also examined if gender, parental education, maternal homework involvement, and child’s task-avoidant behavior predict children’s academic skills at Grade 4 differently in the pre-COVID sample compared with the COVID sample. Children’s reading and math skills were tested, mothers reported their education and homework involvement…

Elementary school teachers adapt their instructional support according to students' academic skills – A variable and person-oriented approach

This study examined the longitudinal associations between children’s academic skills and the instructional support teachers gave individual students. A total of 253 Finnish children were tested on reading and math skills twice in the first grade and once in the second grade. The teachers of these children rated the instructional support that they gave each child in reading and mathematics. The results showed that the poorer the student’s reading and math skills were, the more support and attention the student received from his or her teacher later on. However, instructional support did not contribute positively to the subsequent development of the students’ academic skills. The person-orie…

Subjective health literacy among school-aged children

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore Finnish adolescents’ subjective health literacy (HL) in association to school achievement, learning difficulties, educational aspirations, and family affluence. Design/methodology/approach Nationally representative data were collected in Finland as a part of the international Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study. The respondents consisted in total of 3,833 adolescents (7th and 9th graders) from 359 schools. The Health Literacy for School-aged Children instrument was applied to measure adolescents’ subjective HL, while the Family Affluence Scale was used to measure adolescents’ socioeconomic status. Information was gathered on school…

Millainen johtaminen tuki peruskoulujen henkilöstön työhyvinvointia covid-19-pandemiasta johtuneen etäkoulun aikana?

Henkilökunnan hyvinvointi on yhteydessä johtamiseen, mutta koulukontekstissa johtajuuden merkitystä henkilökunnan hyvinvoinnille (ja sitä kautta oppilaiden hyvinvoinnille) tunnetaan heikosti. Tässä tutkimuksessa keskitymme kolmeen johtajuusominaisuuteen, jotka kirjallisuuden perusteella näyttäytyvät potentiaalisina hyvinvointijohtamisen tekijöinä koulukontekstissa: palveleva johtaminen, henkilöstön hyvinvoinnista huolehtiminen ja jaettu vastuu. Tutkimme, ovatko nämä tammi-helmikuussa 2020 (n=437, 48 koulua) ennen etäkoulua Keski-Suomen koulujen henkilökunnan arvioimat johtajuustekijät yhteydessä heti etäkoulun päättyessä toukokuussa 2020 (n=270, 27 koulua) arvioituun henkilöstön hyvinvointi…

The home literacy model in a highly transparent orthography

We investigated the extent to which home literacy activities during the preschool year would predict the development of children’s language and literacy skills in primary school, in a highly transparent Finnish language. Also, the correlates of maternal literacy activities during preschool were examined. Literacy and language skills of 1,880 children (6-year-olds at the baseline) were tested at 5 time points from the beginning of preschool to the end of Year 2; mothers filled in questionnaires at the end of preschool. The results showed that home teaching of reading at preschool age predicted children’s emergent literacy (letter knowledge, word reading fluency) in primary school, while shar…

Late-Emerging and Resolving Dyslexia

This study focuses on the stability of dyslexia status from Grade 2 to Grade 8 in four groups: (a) no dyslexia in either grade (no-dyslexia, n = 127); (b) no dyslexia in Grade 2 but dyslexia in Grade 8 (late-emerging, n = 18); (c) dyslexia in Grade 2 but not in Grade 8 (resolving, n = 15); and (d) dyslexia in both grades (persistent-dyslexia, n = 22). We examined group differences from age 3.5 to age 14 in (a) reading, vocabulary, phonology, letter knowledge, rapid naming, IQ, verbal memory; (b) familial and environmental risk and supportive factors; and (c) parental skills in reading, phonology, rapid naming, verbal memory, and vocabulary. Our findings showed group differences both in read…

Yksinkertainen lukemisen malli Suomen kielessä: pitkittäistutkimus esikoulusta 3. luokalle

Nuorten lukemisvaikeudet ja lukemiseen yhteydessä olevat tekijät kielessämme

Tutkimuksessa tarkasteltiin suomenkielisten nuorten lukutaitoa ja sen taustalla olevia kognitiivisia tekijöitä. Artikkeli on ilmestynyt lehdessä Scientific Studies of Reading otsikolla ”The nature of and factors related to reading difficulties among adolescents in a transparent orthography”. Tutkimuksessa verrattiin sanojen, pseudosanojen (merkityksettömien sanojen) ja tekstin lukemisen nopeutta ja tarkkuutta sekä nopean sarjallisen nimeämisen ja fonologisen prosessoinnin yhteyttä lukemisvaikeuksisten ja tyypillisesti lukevien nuorten ryhmissä. Nuorten lukemisvaikeudet näkyivät ensisijaisesti hitaana lukemisena. Lukemistarkkuus oli ongelma aikapaineistetussa pseudosanojen lukemistehtävässä.…

Developmental links of very early phonological and language skills to second grade reading outcomes: strong to accuracy but only minor to fluency.

The authors examined second grade reading accuracy and fluency and their associations via letter knowledge to phonological and language predictors assessed at 3.5, 4.5, and 5.5 years in children in the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Dyslexia. Structural equation modeling showed that a developmentally highly stable factor (early phonological and language processing [EPLP]) behind key dyslexia predictors (i.e., phonological awareness, short-term memory, rapid naming, vocabulary, and pseudoword repetition) could already be identified at 3.5 years. EPLP was significantly associated with reading and spelling accuracy and by age with letter knowledge. However, EPLP had only a minor link with re…

Unveiling the Mysteries of Dyslexia : Lessons Learned from the Prospective Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Dyslexia

This paper reviews the observations of the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Dyslexia (JLD). The JLD is a prospective family risk study in which the development of children with familial risk for dyslexia (N = 108) due to parental dyslexia and controls without dyslexia risk (N = 92) were followed from birth to adulthood. The JLD revealed that the likelihood of at-risk children performing poorly in reading and spelling tasks was fourfold compared to the controls. Auditory insensitivity of newborns observed during the first week of life using brain event-related potentials (ERPs) was shown to be the first precursor of dyslexia. ERPs measured at six months of age related to phoneme length identi…

"Missed" Information: A Moral Failing that Erodes Efforts to Tackle the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Infant brain responses associated with reading-related skills before school and at school age

Summary Introduction In Jyvaskyla Longitudinal Study of Dyslexia, we have investigated neurocognitive processes related to phonology and other risk factors of later reading problems. Here we review studies in which we have investigated whether dyslexic children with familial risk background would show atypical auditory/speech processing at birth, at six months and later before school and at school age as measured by brain event-related potentials (ERPs), and how infant ERPs are related to later pre-reading cognitive skills and literacy outcome. Patients and methods One half of the children came from families with at least one dyslexic parent (the at-risk group), while the other half belonge…

Changes in Students' Psychological Well-Being during Transition from Primary School to Lower Secondary School : A Person-Centered Approach

This person-centered study examined the patterns and the dynamics of pattern change based on 1666 Finnish students' self-reported psychological well-being during the transition from primary school to lower secondary school. Moreover, we examined the stability in the profile memberships and the influence of changes in perceived support from teachers, families, and peers on changes in students' psychological well-being. Six student profiles were identified using the I-states-as-objects-analysis (ISOA) procedure: (a) High well-being profile; (b) Average well-being but low educational aspirations profile; (c) Low well-being profile; (d) Low well-being but high educational aspirations profile; (…

Classroom effect on primary school students’ self-concept in literacy and mathematics

AbstractAccording to the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLP) model, high individual academic performance in a particular subject is related to high self-concept in that subject, whereas high average classroom performance has a negative effect on self-concept. In the present study, data from Finnish primary school students in grade 3 (504 students), grade 4 (487 students), and grade 6 (365 students) are used to examine whether the assumptions of the BFLP effect model hold already in primary school. Furthermore, we examined gender differences in BFLP effect. The results showed that as expected students’ high performance in literacy and in mathematics was related to high self-concept in the sam…

The Nature of and Factors Related to Reading Difficulties Among Adolescents in a Transparent Orthography

We examined the nature of and factors related to adolescents’ reading difficulties in a highly transparent orthography. We compared word, pseudoword, and text reading speed and accuracy, rapid naming (RAN) and phonological processing between poor readers (n = 80) and normally developing readers (n = 189). Reading problems were manifested in reading speed and in timed pseudoword reading accuracy. RAN predicted speed, and phonological processing predicted accuracy of reading in both groups. Among poor readers, RAN also explained reading accuracy. For the normally developing sample, phonological processing also predicted reading speed.

Development of silent reading fluency and reading comprehension across grades 1 to 9 : unidirectional or bidirectional effects between the two skills?

Purpose This study examines the developmental interplay between silent reading fluency and reading comprehension from Grade 1 to Grade 9 (age 7 to 15) in a large Finnish sample (N = 2,518). Of particular interest was whether the associations are bidirectional or unidirectional. Methods Children’s silent reading fluency and reading comprehension skills were assessed using group-administered tests, at seven time points, in Grades 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, and 9. A random intercept cross-lagged panel model with latent factors was used to identify between- and within-person associations between silent reading fluency and reading comprehension. The use of latent factors allowed for the controlling of me…

Counting and rapid naming predict the fluency of arithmetic and reading skills

Understanding of the factors that underlie the development of fluency in reading and arithmetic is limited. This longitudinal study examined whether verbal counting and rapid automatized naming (RAN) were predictors of arithmetic and reading fluency in a population-based sample and to what extent related early emerging cognitive abilities and socioeconomic background accounted for the predictive power of counting and RAN. In addition, in order to examine the uniqueness of counting as a numerical predictor of reading fluency, the influence of another early number skill—number concept—was controlled. Three hundred and seventy-eight Finnish children were followed from kindergarten to Grade 3 (…

Why do boys and girls perform differently on PISA Reading in Finland? The effects of reading fluency, achievement behaviour, leisure reading and homework activity

The present study examined gender gap in Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) Reading and mediators of the gender gap in a Finnish sample (n = 1,309). We examined whether the gender gap in PISA Reading performance can be understood via the effects of reading fluency, achievement behaviour (mastery orientation and task-avoidant behaviour) or the amount of time spent with leisure reading and homework. Girls outperformed boys in all measures except for achievement behaviour. The models explaining PISA Reading were not different: For boys and girls, reading fluency, mastery orientation, leisure book reading and homework explained the variance in PISA Reading scores. The gender ef…

Adolescent reading and math skills and self-concept beliefs as predictors of age 20 emotional well-being

This study examines longitudinal associations among reading skills, math skills and emotional well-being in a Finnish sample (n = 586) followed from the end of comprehensive school (Grade 9, age 15–16) to age 20. In particular, we determine whether the associations between skills and well-being are mediated by self-concept beliefs. In Grade 9, the participants’ reading fluency, PISA reading comprehension and math skills were assessed in classrooms, and questionnaires were used to assess self-concept (global and skill-specific) and internalising problems. At age 20, questionnaires were used to self-report emotional well-being and educational attainment. The results showed no direct predictiv…

Developmental profiles of reading fluency and reading comprehension from grades 1 to 9 and their early identification.

This study examined developmental profiles of reading fluency and reading comprehension in Grades 1 to 9 (ages 7 to 15) in a large Finnish sample (N = 2,518). In addition, early predictors of the profiles were analyzed with respect to kindergarten cognitive skills (phonological awareness, letter knowledge, rapid automized naming [RAN], number counting, word reading, vocabulary, and listening comprehension), parental factors (level of education, reading difficulties), and gender. Four different profiles of reading fluency and reading comprehension development were identified using latent profile analysis. These comprised one profile with persistent reading difficulties across the grades, one…

Early temperament and age at school entry predict task avoidance in elementary school

This study examined the role of temperament, prereading skills, and age at school entry in the development of Finnish children's task avoidance. Teachers rated the task-avoidant behavior of 198 participants in kindergarten and twice in Grades 2 and 3. Parents rated the children's temperament at age 3 and children's prereading skills were measured at age 5. The results showed that, on average, the level of children's task avoidance remained the same from kindergarten to Grade 2 fall, but decreased from Grade 2 fall to Grade 3 spring. A low task avoidance level was predicted by good prereading skills, high effortful control, and high negative affectivity. Low surgency predicted a decrease in …

Understanding the role of cross-language transfer of phonological awareness in emergent Hindi–English biliteracy acquisition

AbstractThis study examined within and cross-language relations, and specifically, the role of phonological awareness (PA) skills in reading among young Hindi-speaking children (L1) who were learning to read English (L2) in Delhi, India. Data was collected from 143 children in Grades 1 and 2 using measures validated for this population. The analyses examined the associations between L1 and L2 PA and decoding, both within and across the two languages. The results showed that PA skills within each language significantly predicted decoding in that language. Furthermore, there was evidence of cross-language transfer with Hindi PA significantly predicting English word reading even after controll…

Home Literacy Activities and Children’s Reading Skills, Independent Reading, and Interest in Literacy Activities From Kindergarten to Grade 2

According to the Home Literacy Model (Sénéchal and LeFevre, 2002, 2014), young children can be exposed to two distinct types of literacy activities at home. First, meaning-related literacy activities are those where print is present but is not the focus of the parent–child interaction, for example, when parents read storybooks to their children. In contrast, code-related literacy activities focus on the print, for example, activities such as when parents teach their children the names and sounds of letters or to read words. The present study was conducted to expand the Home Literacy Model by examining its relation with children’s engagement in literacy activities at home and at school as Fi…

Profiles of school motivation and emotional well-being among adolescents : Associations with math and reading performance

This study examines profiles of school motivation and emotional well-being and their links to academic skills (reading and math) among adolescents (N = 1629) at the end of comprehensive school (age 15–16). Using a person-centered approach (latent profile analysis), five distinct profile groups were identified. Three of the identified groups had a flat profile in motivation and well-being but at different levels. The first group manifested high motivation and well-being (n = 178, 11%); the second group was average in both (n = 1107, 68%); and the third had low motivation and well-being (n = 121, 7%). Two groups had mixed profiles; one group manifested only low motivation (n = 140, 9%) and th…

Developmental profiles of task-avoidant behaviour and reading skills in Grades 1 and 2

Abstract A latent profile analysis approach was used to examine the developmental profiles of task-avoidant behaviour and reading skills in Grades 1 and 2, as well as their antecedents in kindergarten. The participants in this study were 448 children. Four different developmental profiles of task-avoidant behaviour and reading skills were identified. Our results showed that task-avoidant behaviour and reading problems do not coincide for all children. Parents' educational level differentiated between the profile groups. Comparisons of kindergarten skills between the groups showed that social competence skills in kindergarten helped to differentiate between the profile groups with varying le…

Intergenerational Transmission of Dyslexia : How do Different Identification Methods of Parental Difficulties Influence the Conclusions Regarding Children's Risk for Dyslexia?

By investigating children whose parents have dyslexia, family risk (FR) studies are expanding our understanding of the intergenerational transmission of dyslexia. These studies, however, vary in their identification of FR, and how the use of different identification methods influences research findings and conclusions is yet to be systematically investigated. This study aims to evaluate the association between two FR identification methods—parental self-reports and direct skill assessments—and their unique contributions in the prediction of children's reading. The study employed two datasets: a prospective FR sample (half of the parents in the sample had dyslexia and the remaining half did …

Long-term effects of the home literacy environment on reading development: Familial risk for dyslexia as a moderator.

This study aimed to gain better understanding of the associations between literacy activities at home and long-term language and literacy development. We extended the home literacy environment (HLE) model of Sénéchal and LeFevre (Child Development [2002], Vol. 73, pp. 445–460) by including repeated assessments of shared reading, oral language, and reading comprehension development, including examination of familial risk for dyslexia as a moderator, and following development over time from ages 2 to 15 years. Of the 198 Finnish participants, 106 have familial risk for dyslexia due to parental dyslexia. Our path models include development in vocabulary (2–5.5 years), emerging literacy (5.5 ye…

Lukivaikeuden kehitykselliset alaryhmät ja niiden vertailu kognitiivisissa taidoissa sekä toimintatavoissa

Tässä tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan lukivaikeuden pysyvyyttä toiselta luokalta kahdeksannelle luokalle suomalaisessa pitkittäisaineistossa. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena on tunnistaa tekijöitä, jotka auttavat eri ikäisten lasten lukivaikeuden varhaisessa tunnistamisessa, sekä tekijöitä, jotka tukevat lukutaidon kehitystä. Tunnistimme kolme erilaista lukivaikeusryhmää: pysyvä, kompensoituva ja myöhään ilmenevä lukivaikeus. Lukivaikeusryhmät erosivat varhaisten kognitiivisten taitojen lisäksi tehtävää välttävässä käyttäytymisessä, lukuharrastuneisuudessa ja kotitehtäviin käytetyssä ajassa. Koska osalla lapsista lukemisen vaikeuden havaittiin ilmenevän vasta alkuopetuksen jälkeen, on tärkeää, että luk…

sj-docx-1-ldx-10.1177_00222194221150230 – Supplemental material for A Register Study Suggesting Homotypic and Heterotypic Comorbidity Among Individuals With Learning Disabilities

Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-ldx-10.1177_00222194221150230 for A Register Study Suggesting Homotypic and Heterotypic Comorbidity Among Individuals With Learning Disabilities by Tuija Aro, Reeta Neittaanmäki, Elisa Korhonen, Heli Riihimäki and Minna Torppa in Journal of Learning Disabilities

Subjective health literacy : Development of a brief instrument for school-aged children

Aims: The present paper focuses on the measurement of health literacy (HL), which is an important determinant of health and health behaviours. HL starts to develop in childhood and adolescence; hence, there is a need for instruments to monitor HL among younger age groups. These instruments are still rare. The aim of the project reported here was, therefore, to develop a brief, multidimensional, theory-based instrument to measure subjective HL among school-aged children. Methods: The development of the instrument covered four phases: item generation based on a conceptual framework; a pilot study ( n = 405); test–retest ( n = 117); and construction of the instrument ( n = 3853). All the samp…

Dyslexia : early Identification and Prevention: Highlights from the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Dyslexia

Over two decades of Finnish research, monitoring children born with risk for dyslexia has been carried out in the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Dyslexia (JLD). Two hundred children, half at risk, have been assessed from birth to puberty on hundreds of measures. The aims were to identify measures of prediction of later reading difficulty and to instigate appropriate and earliest diagnosis and intervention. We can identify at-risk children from newborn electroencephalographic brain recordings (Guttorm et al., J Neural Transm 110:1059–1074, 2003). Predictors are also apparent from late-talking infants who have familial background of dyslexia (Lyytinen and Lyytinen, Appl Psycolinguistics 25:3…