Abstract

Children with reading difficulty experience stress in school that may put them at risk of negative socio-emotional adjustment involving externalizing or internalizing patterns. It is unclear what factors influence some children to experience externalizing patterns and others internalizing patterns. This study investigated the influences of the age of identification of reading difficulties and coping strategies on socio-emotional adjustment. Data were collected from 31 children with reading difficulty (ages 9 to 12 years), recruited from Winnipeg schools and child-care centres, on measures of coping strategy and socio-emotional adjustment and parent/guardian reported age-of-identification. Direct and indirect process analyses, using percentile bootstrapping, were used to examine mediating effects of coping strategies in the relationship between age-of identification and socio-emotional adjustment. Results showed late-identified children (in Grade 2 or later) were more likely to report using disengagement coping strategies. Early-identified children (before Grade 2) were more likely to report higher internalizing patterns. Evidence for partial mediation by secondary coping strategy on the relationship between age-of-identification and internalizing outcomes was found. No other mediation patterns were found, including indirect effects of age-of-identification on socio-emotional functioning through coping. Although early identification of reading difficulties is associated with greater risk of developing internalizing problems, patterns of coping with reading-related stress have limited influence. Clarifying how age of identification of reading difficulty influences socio-emotional adjustment will help resolve theoretical debates about the experience of reading difficulty as a risk factor for negative socio-emotional adjustment, and will help educators/clinicians to promote struggling readers’ healthy socio-emotional adjustment.

摘要

有阅读困难的孩子在学校经历过压力，这可能使他们面临负面的社会情绪调整，包括外在化或内在化的风险。尚不清楚哪些因素影响一些孩子体验外部化模式，而另一些影响内部化模式。本研究调查了识别阅读困难的年龄和应对策略对社会情绪适应的影响。从温尼伯学校和儿童保育中心招募的31名阅读困难的儿童（9至12岁）收集了有关应对策略和社会情感适应措施以及父母/监护人报告的识别年龄的措施的数据。使用百分位数自举法进行直接和间接过程分析，被用来检验应对策略在识别年龄和社会情感适应之间的中介作用。结果显示，迟到的儿童（2年级或更高）会使用脱离接触应对策略进行报告。早期识别的儿童（2年级之前）更有可能报告较高的内在化模式。发现了通过二级应对策略进行部分调解的证据，这些策略涉及认同年龄与内在化结果之间的关系。没有发现其他调解模式，包括识别年龄对通过应对对社会情感功能的间接影响。尽管尽早发现阅读困难与内在化问题的风险更大，但是应对与阅读有关的压力的方式影响有限。