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Literacy difficulties and psychiatric disorders: evidence for comorbidity
Article first published online: 1 OCT 2004
DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2004.00366.x
Additional Information
How to Cite
Carroll, J. M., Maughan, B., Goodman, R. and Meltzer, H. (2005), Literacy difficulties and psychiatric disorders: evidence for comorbidity. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 46: 524–532. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2004.00366.x
Publication History
- Issue published online: 21 APR 2005
- Article first published online: 1 OCT 2004
- Manuscript accepted 26 April 2004
- Abstract
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Keywords:
- Comorbidity;
- reading difficulties;
- ADHD;
- conduct disorder;
- anxiety;
- depression
Background: Literacy difficulties show high levels of comorbidity with both disruptive and emotional disorders, but questions remain over the nature and specificity of these links.
Method: Relationships between specific literacy difficulties and psychiatric disorder were investigated in a large-scale national sample of children aged 9 to 15 years.
Results: Specific literacy difficulties were more common in children from lower socio-economic backgrounds, and were significantly associated with increased risks of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (especially inattentive symptomatology), Conduct Disorder and anxiety disorders in both girls and boys, and with self-reports of depressed mood in boys. Associations between literacy difficulties and diagnoses of both Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Conduct Disorder (CD) were mediated by inattentiveness, as were links with low mood. Links between specific literacy difficulties and anxiety were of a different nature, suggestive of a direct impact of literacy problems on risk for anxiety disorders.
Conclusions: Literacy difficulties are significantly associated with externalising disorders via inattention, but may constitute a more immediate risk factor for naturally anxious children to develop clinically significant levels of anxiety.