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Longitudinal Study of Reading Disability and Attention‐Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Implications for Education
Author(s) -
Willcutt Erik G.,
Betjemann Rebecca S.,
Pennington Bruce F.,
Olson Richard K.,
DeFries John C.,
Wadsworth Sally J.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
mind, brain, and education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.624
H-Index - 35
eISSN - 1751-228X
pISSN - 1751-2271
DOI - 10.1111/j.1751-228x.2007.00019.x
Subject(s) - attention deficit hyperactivity disorder , psychology , learning disability , clinical psychology , depression (economics) , psychological intervention , psychiatry , reading disability , reading (process) , dyslexia , comorbidity , longitudinal study , attention deficit , developmental psychology , medicine , pathology , political science , law , economics , macroeconomics
— The majority of children who receive special education services meet criteria for reading disability (RD) or attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but additional research is needed to understand the long‐term academic outcome of children in these groups. Individuals with RD only ( N = 71), ADHD only ( N = 66), both RD and ADHD ( N = 51), or neither disorder ( N = 118) were identified through the ongoing Colorado Learning Disabilities Research Center twin study and retested 5 years later. Results of the follow‐up testing indicated that, in addition to ongoing reading difficulties, individuals with RD exhibited higher rates of academic difficulties, depression, and adolescent‐onset conduct disorder. Initial ADHD status was associated with academic and social difficulties and elevated rates of nearly all comorbid disorders 5 years later. The group with comorbid RD and ADHD had more stable reading deficits than the group with RD without ADHD and exhibited greater impairment than groups with either disorder alone on outcome measures of academic functioning and social difficulties. These results suggest that individuals with both RD and ADHD are at increased risk for negative outcomes as adolescents and young adults and that when RD and ADHD co‐occur, interventions should be provided for both disorders.