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Explaining the sex difference in dyslexia
Author(s) -
Arnett Anne B.,
Pennington Bruce F.,
Peterson Robin L.,
Willcutt Erik G.,
DeFries John C.,
Olson Richard K.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of child psychology and psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.652
H-Index - 211
eISSN - 1469-7610
pISSN - 0021-9630
DOI - 10.1111/jcpp.12691
Subject(s) - dyslexia , psychology , developmental psychology , reading (process) , linguistics , philosophy
Background Males are diagnosed with dyslexia more frequently than females, even in epidemiological samples. This may be explained by greater variance in males’ reading performance. Methods We expand on previous research by rigorously testing the variance difference theory, and testing for mediation of the sex difference by cognitive correlates. We developed an analytic framework that can be applied to group differences in any psychiatric disorder. Results Males’ overrepresentation in the low performance tail of the reading distribution was accounted for by mean and variance differences across sex. There was no sex difference at the high performance tail. Processing speed ( PS ) and inhibitory control partially mediated the sex difference. Verbal reasoning emerged as a strength in males. Conclusions Our results complement a previous finding that PS partially mediates the sex difference in symptoms of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder ( ADHD ), and helps explain the sex difference in both dyslexia and ADHD and their comorbidity.