A multiple deficit model of reading disability and attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder: searching for shared cognitive deficits
Open accessAbstract
Background: This study tests a multiple cognitive deficit model of reading disability (RD), attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and their comorbidity. Methods: A structural equation model (SEM) of multiple cognitive risk factors and symptom outcome variables was constructed. The model included phonological awareness as a unique predictor of RD and response inhibition as a unique predictor of ADHD. Processing speed, naming speed, and verbal working memory were modeled as potential shared cognitive deficits. Results: Model fit indices from the SEM indicated satisfactory fit. Closer inspection of the path weights revealed that processing speed was the only cognitive variable with significant unique relationships to RD and ADHD dimensions, particularly inattention. Moreover, the significant correlation between reading and inattention was reduced to non‐significance when processing speed was included in the model, suggesting that processing speed primarily accounted for the phenotypic correlation (or comorbidity) between reading and inattention. Conclusions: This study illustrates the power of a multiple deficit approach to complex developmental disorders and psychopathologies, particularly for exploring comorbidities. The theoretical role of processing speed in the developmental pathways of RD and ADHD and directions for future research are discussed.
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Processing speed deficits have been most commonly associated with specific reading disorder.
“PS deficits have been most commonly associated with specific reading disorder (RD)13,16–18”
From Diagnostic Associations of Processing Speed in a Transdiagnostic, Pediatric Sample (2020) · cites this paper as [17]
The Results (Exploratory Analyses; page unavailable) associate processing speed, particularly symbolic processing speed, with reading. However, they also associate it with inattention, and the Discussion calls it a shared predictor of RD and ADHD. The paper does not establish that processing-speed deficits are most commonly associated with RD. (LLM, conf=0.85)
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- Authors
- McGrath, L. M., Pennington, B. F., Shanahan, M. A., Santerre‐Lemmon, L. E., Barnard, H. D., Willcutt, E. G., DeFries, J. C., & Olson, R. K.
- Affiliations
- University of Denver (US)
- University of Illinois Chicago (US)
- University of Colorado Boulder (US)
- Venue
- Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2010-12-03
- Volume
- 52
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 547-557
- ISSN
- 0021-9630 (ISSN-L)
- 1469-7610
- PMC
- PMC3079018
- OpenAlex
- W2162645769
- Cited by
- 302
- References
- 10
- Citations by year
- 2026: 12 · 2025: 18 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 26 · 2020: 21 · 2019: 23 · 2018: 17 · 2017: 20 · 2016: 25 · 2015: 22 · 2014: 25 · 2013: 14 · 2012: 18
- FWCI
- 27.62
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health
- National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH063941, R01MH062120, MH 62120, MH 63941)
- National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (DC87262, F31DC008726)
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R01HD068728, R01HD047264, HD 27802, HD 47264, P50HD027802)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Reading and Literacy Development
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Developmental and Educational Neuropsychology
- Keywords
- reading disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, comorbidities, processing speed, phonological awareness, response inhibition, verbal working memory, naming speed, inattention, cognitive impairment
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity, Child, Cognition, Female, Humans, Learning Disabilities, Male, Memory, Short-Term, Models, Psychological, Neuropsychological Tests, Reading, Risk Factors, Verbal Learning, Comorbidity
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