In a randomized-controlled trial we tested a computer-assisted intervention for the prevention of reading difficulties, delivered by nonprofessional tutors, running from kindergarten to halfway Grade 2. The full sample included 123 prereaders (M = 5; 6 years; 56 intervention; 67 controls) with low preliteracy skills. Parents were sent a questionnaire to assess family risk (FR) for reading difficulties. There was no intervention effect in the full sample, but, unexpectedly, the effect differed between subsamples that did and did not return the questionnaire. The intervention did not affect reading acquisition in the subsample (N = 49) without FR-data, mostly children from immigrant, non-Dutch speaking, low-socioeconomic status (SES) families, but had large effects in the subsample of Dutch-speaking, middle and high SES-parents with FR-data (N = 74). The latter subsample was followed until Grade 6, 4 years after the intervention, and included 36 intervention children and 38 controls. Long-lasting improvements were found in word-reading fluency, which transferred to reading fluency for pseudowords, English words: and texts, and to spelling. The intervention substantially reduced the need for remedial teaching and grade retention. On all measures, children with FR performed worse than children without FR. The intervention had similar effects on the progress of both groups, but the FR children needed more sessions. This study shows that a 2-year cost-effective early intervention can reduce the incidence of reading difficulties. However, it remains a challenge to make the intervention suited for children in which a lack of preliteracy skills merely seems to reflect a lack of learning opportunities.

中文翻译：

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预防有和没有家庭风险的儿童的阅读困难：早期干预的短期和长期影响。

在一项随机对照试验中，我们测试了由非专业导师提供的预防阅读困难的计算机辅助干预措施，从幼儿园到 2 年级。完整样本包括 123 名预读者（M = 5；6 岁；56 名干预； 67 控制）具有低识字技能。向家长发送了一份问卷，以评估阅读困难的家庭风险 (FR)。在整个样本中没有干预效应，但出乎意料的是，在返回和未返回问卷的子样本之间的影响不同。干预不影响没有 FR 数据的子样本（N = 49）中的阅读习得，主要是来自移民、非荷兰语、低社会经济地位 (SES) 家庭的儿童，但对荷兰语子样本有很大影响，具有 FR 数据的中高 SES 父母（N = 74）。后一个子样本被追踪到干预后 4 年的 6 年级，包括 36 名干预儿童和 38 名对照。在单词阅读流畅度方面发现了持久的改进，这转移到了伪词、英语单词和文本的阅读流畅度以及拼写上。干预大大减少了对辅导教学和保留成绩的需要。在所有措施中，有 FR 的儿童比没有 FR 的儿童表现更差。干预对两组的进展都有相似的影响，但 FR 儿童需要更多的课程。这项研究表明，2 年具有成本效益的早期干预可以减少阅读困难的发生率。然而，