Development of Behavior Problems in Children with and without Specific Learning Disorders in Reading and Spelling from Kindergarten to Fifth Grade

ABSTRACT

Previous studies have established the relationship between behavioral problems and specific learning disorders (SLD); however, the exact mechanism by which behavioral disorders impact SLD remains unclear. This longitudinal study used the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) to investigate how parents’ judgment of children’s behavioral problems changed from kindergarten to fifth grade in children diagnosed with or without specific learning disorders in reading and spelling (SLD_rs) (N = 196). Growth component model analyses showed differential development of behavior problems between children with and without SLD_rs. The groups did not differ before school entrance in externalizing behavior, internalizing behavior or any sub-scale of the CBCL. Parents reported their children with SLD_rs as having higher overall levels of behavioral problems after school entrance, especially in first and fourth grade. Comorbid ADHD appears to be the explanatory factor of differential problem behavior ratings between children with and without SLD_rs.

Acknowledgments

This study was funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Grant GU-1177/1-1 and GU-1177/1-3). There is no potential conflict of interest reported by any of the authors.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed here.

Notes

1. We preferred the single group model approach with diagnoses as predictors over a two or four group model, because sample sizes between affected children and children without diagnoses differ largely. The low group sizes of some groups in the multi group approaches did not allow for estimating the variance-covariance structure reliably in those groups. Descriptively, there are differences in variances and covariances between groups, which led to problems in model estimation and an unsatisfying fit in some cases.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft [GU-1177/1-1,GU-1177/1-3].