Reading Difficulty And Socio-Emotional Adjustment: Internalizing Patterns Depend On Age Of Identification

Children with reading difficulty experience stress in school that may put them at risk of negative socio-emotional adjustment involving externalizing or internalizing patterns. It is unclear what factors influence some children to experience externalizing patterns and others internalizing patterns. This study investigated the influences of the age of identification of reading difficulties and coping strategies on socio-emotional adjustment. Data were collected from 31 children with reading difficulty (ages 9 to 12 years), recruited from Winnipeg schools and child-care centres, on measures of coping strategy and socio-emotional adjustment and parent/guardian reported age-of-identification. Direct and indirect process analyses, using percentile bootstrapping, were used to examine mediating effects of coping strategies in the relationship between age-of identification and socio-emotional adjustment. Results showed late-identified children (in Grade 2 or later) were more likely to report using disengagement coping strategies. Early-identified children (before Grade 2) were more likely to report higher internalizing patterns. Evidence for partial mediation by secondary coping strategy on the relationship between age-of-identification and internalizing outcomes was found. No other mediation patterns were found, including indirect effects of age-of-identification on socio-emotional functioning through coping. Although early identification of reading difficulties is associated with greater risk of developing internalizing problems, patterns of coping with reading-related stress have limited influence. Clarifying how age of identification of reading difficulty influences socio-emotional adjustment will help resolve theoretical debates about the experience of reading difficulty as a risk factor for negative socio-emotional adjustment, and will help educators/clinicians to promote struggling readers' healthy socio-emotional adjustment.