Parental education influences reading but not rhythm matching in children

Abstract

Purpose: Dyslexia is a common neurodevelopmental disorder diagnosed by failure to develop fluent reading and linked to genetic and environmental risk factors. Interestingly, individuals with dyslexia may also exhibit difficulties in rhythm processing as evidence suggests a relationship between rhythm matching and reading skills. Although parental education (PE) is a strong predictor of reading outcomes, it is unclear if PE also impacts rhythm skills. Therefore, the current study evaluated the potential impact of PE on rhythm skills in children, and whether rhythm skills affect the impact of PE on reading.Method: We enrolled 68 American children (7 to 12 years old) to complete an online assessment of reading ability and several virtual activities at their own pace, including a rhythm matching task. Results: We replicated prior studies reporting significant correlations between PE and reading skills, and partially replicated prior findings of a relationship between reading and rhythm matching skills. Interestingly, we found no correlation between rhythm matching and PE. Further, we found that rhythm did not influence the relationship between PE and reading. Our results suggest that while PE is significantly correlated with reading outcomes in young children, PE may not similarly influence rhythm matching.Conclusions: Overall, these results suggest that there is no relationship between rhythm matching skills and PE, two well-documented reading predictors. These findings may have implications for understanding the development of music language and music and provides support for early rhythm-based interventions in children at risk for reading failure.