Are different reading problems associated with different anxiety types?

Abstract

There is a reliable association between poor reading and anxiety, but we do not completely understand the specifics of this relationship. The current study included a sample of children (N = 284; M age = 9.30, SD age = 1.31) who completed a reading (word, nonword, and text reading accuracy, word, nonword, and text reading fluency, passage reading comprehension) and anxiety (social anxiety, generalized anxiety, separation anxiety, physical injury fears/phobias, panic, obsessive compulsive symptoms) assessment. Analyses included bivariate and partial correlations, principal components analysis, and hierarchical clustering. We found a very tentative suggestion in the data that there may be a specific yet weak association between reading accuracy and social anxiety. The clinical implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Are children with early literacy difficulties at risk for anxiety disorders in late childhood?

“…The close association between LD and generalized and separation anxiety is not a novel finding because similar findings have been reported by other studies (e.g., Mammarella et al, 2016 ; Novita et al, 2019 ). However, Francis et al ( 2022 ) have stated that the absence of a significant association between children’s LD and social anxiety in the study of Carroll et al ( 2005 ) could be attributed to the low prevalence rates of social anxiety in their sample. Taking into consideration the well-established dissociation between children’s reading and spelling skills (Kargiotidis et al, 2021 ; Moll & Landerl, 2009 ), it would have been interesting if Carroll et al ( 2005 ) had further classified their sample to children with RSD, children with RD, and children with SD to assess potential differences in anxiety symptoms compared to TD children.…”

“…Francis et al ( 2022 ) assessed English-speaking children with and without reading difficulties from second to sixth grade οn a wide range of reading skills and anxiety symptoms. Their results revealed a significant, although weak, negative association between social anxiety and reading accuracy.…”

“…One of these factors is the heterogeneity of both anxiety disorder and LD with researchers suggesting that specific LD subtypes may be related to specific types of anxiety symptoms (Francis et al, 2022 ; McArthur, 2022 ). However, research findings are quite inconsistent so far, and additional research is required to disentangle this complex relationship.…”

“…For example, Grills-Taquechel et al ( 2012 ) showed that it was fluency and not decoding difficulties that predicted higher separation anxiety. On the other hand, Francis et al ( 2022 ) showed that among various reading skills and anxiety subtypes, there was only a negative correlation between reading accuracy and social anxiety. The meta-analysis by Francis et al ( 2019 ) complicates things even more because they found that the type of reading difficulties did not moderate the association between reading difficulties and anxiety symptoms.…”

Reading anxiety in online classroom among Malaysian university learners: Lessons from pandemic to post pandemic era

“…Lastly, learners with low self-esteem in reading skills are most likely to be affected by classroom reading activities conducted by instructors. In the same vein, reading anxiety is closely related to social anxiety in the context of reading, a phenomenon which decreases reading accuracy among poor readers (Francis et al, 2022).…”