Do Children With Comorbid Reading and Mathematics Difficulties Experience More Internalizing Problems?

TL;DR

Children with both reading and math difficulties may have more anxiety and depression, but this could be due to attention issues.

Contribution

The study explores internalizing problems in children with comorbid reading and math difficulties, considering attention as a mediating factor.

Findings

Children with comorbid RDMD showed higher anxiety and depression than controls.

Attention difficulties may explain the emotional problems in comorbid RDMD children.

Abstract

We examined whether children with comorbid reading (RD) and mathematics (MD) difficulties experience more internalizing problems (anxiety, depression, somatic complaints, and social withdrawal) than children without comorbidity. In addition, we examined whether any significant group differences are due to differences between groups in attention. Thirty-three Canadian children with RD (51.5% female; Mage = 10.80 years), 35 with MD (60.0% female; Mage = 10.79 years), 37 with comorbid RDMD (45.9% female; Mage = 10.79 years), and 42 chronological-age (CA) controls (64.3% female; Mage = 10.82 years) were assessed on reading, mathematics, general cognitive ability, and attention tasks. Their teachers also rated their anxiety, depression, somatic complaints, and social withdrawal. Results of analyses of variance showed that children with comorbid RDMD exhibited significantly higher levels of anxiety and depression compared only to the CA controls. However, after controlling for attention, these group differences were no longer significant. These findings suggest that children with comorbid RDMD may be at greater risk for anxiety and depression, although attention difficulties likely contribute to these differences.

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