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Inattention-Hyperactivity and Reading Achievement in Children from Low-Income Families: A Longitudinal Model

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Abstract

This study examined how preschool inattention-hyperactivity is related to elementary school reading achievement. Prereading skills were hypothesized to be a link between them. This link was explored using longitudinal data on 105 low-socioeconomic-status (SES) children's inattentive-hyperactive behavior and prereading skills in Head Start and in kindergarten and their inattentive-hyperactive behavior and reading skills in first grade. A model of this relationship was tested using structural equation modeling. The results failed to show a significant path between inattention-hyperactivity and prereading skills at both the Head Start and kindergarten levels. A significant path was found between first grade inattention-hyperactivity and reading skills, confirming that the strong relationship between inattention-hyperactivity and poor reading achievement commonly found in children from other SES levels was also significant in this low-SES sample. Strong relationships were found between pre-reading skills and reading skills, as well as among hyperactivity levels at the three grades. The issue of the direction of the path of influence between attention-behavior and reading achievement is addressed briefly; however, the results indicate that further longitudinal work is necessary to resolve this issue.

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  1. Department of Psychology, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, New York, 11794

    Olivia N. Velting & Grover J. Whitehurst

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  1. Olivia N. Velting
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Velting, O.N., Whitehurst, G.J. Inattention-Hyperactivity and Reading Achievement in Children from Low-Income Families: A Longitudinal Model. J Abnorm Child Psychol 25, 321–331 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025716520345

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