Task‐avoidant behaviour and dyslexia: A follow‐up from Grade 2 to age 20

Task‐avoidant behaviour is correlated with reading skills and may have an impact on achieving educational and occupation goals in the long run. Longitudinal studies on task avoidance and its links to reading difficulties are non‐existent, however. The present study examines changes and stability of...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Dyslexia (Chichester, England) England), 2019-11, Vol.25 (4), p.374-389
Main Authors: Syal, Samira, Torppa, Minna
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adolescent Behavior - psychology
Adolescents
Age
Avoidance
Avoidance Learning
Child
Child Behavior - psychology
Children
Correlation analysis
Dyslexia
Dyslexia - psychology
Female
Follow-Up Studies
Grade 2
Humans
Longitudinal studies
longitudinal study
Male
Parents
Reading
Reading ability
Reading difficulties
Reading Skills
Stability analysis
task avoidance
Young Adult
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Task‐avoidant behaviour is correlated with reading skills and may have an impact on achieving educational and occupation goals in the long run. Longitudinal studies on task avoidance and its links to reading difficulties are non‐existent, however. The present study examines changes and stability of task‐avoidant behaviour from childhood (Grade 2), through adolescence (Grades 7 and 9), to early adulthood (age 20) among participants identified with (n = 46) and without dyslexia (n = 151) at Grade 2, with gender effects also examined. Results showed significant changes in task avoidance from Grade 2 to Grade 7 and from Grade 9 to age 20, wherein task avoidance increased from Grade 2 to Grade 9 and then decreased until age 20. Furthermore, low correlations obtained between task avoidance assessments over time indicated instability; thus, task avoidance at one point did not predict task avoidance later on. Differences between those with and without dyslexia emerged only at Grade 2, with higher task avoidance reported in the dyslexia group. Finally, no significant gender‐related effects were found for task avoidance at any time point. Together, our findings imply that although task avoidance may be linked to dyslexia in the parental reports of the young study participants, this association does not persist in participants' self‐reports at later ages.
ISSN:1076-9242
1099-0909
DOI:10.1002/dys.1627