The Detection of Early Reading Performance and Its Relationship with Biopsychosocial Risk Factors in the Study of Learning Difficulties.

The study of the multiple processes involved in learning how to read can contribute towards the early detection of good and bad readers. However, it is necessary to take into consideration different biopsychosocial risk factors (pre- and perigestational, neonatal, medical, developmental and family-related) that may have a significant impact on neurodevelopment, producing atypical cognitive development that could lead to the presence of reading difficulties. The objective of this study was to identify the main psycholinguistic abilities involved in the early reading performance and analyse their relationship to biopsychosocial risk factors. A total of 110 subjects between the ages of 4 and 7 years old and enrolled in state-run schools in Spain participated in the study. Significant correlations were found between different psycholinguistic abilities and certain biopsychosocial risk factors (having had hyperbilirubinemia, having obtained a score lower than 9 on the Apgar test, having had language problems or a sibling with dyslexia). This relationship should be taken into account in the study of learning difficulties as a potential indicator to predict later reading development and even the presence of developmental dyslexia.

Suitability of Social Services for the Older Persons: Analysis of Degree of Fit between Needs and Services.

Increased life expectancy coupled with decreased birth rates has led to a notable aging of the population. In the social care sector, resources for the older persons should be allocated by means of objective instruments that ensure an appropriate fit between older people's needs and the characteristics of the services. This paper analyzes the appropriacy of actual assignments of resources in a sample of 632 older users of social services, evaluating the degree of fit between these assignments and those made by a Decision Making Model (DMM) which is strictly based on an objective assessment of user's needs and characteristics. The results indicate that biopsychosocial variables included as predictors in the DMM are appropriate for ensuring that the needs of the older persons are met and resources are optimized. However, the current assignments of users to services cannot be explained by relying solely on these variables, suggesting that the allocation of users to services may be conditioned by factors that are different from those covered by the DMM.

Las dificultades neuroevolutivas como constructo comprensivo de las dificultades de aprendizaje en niños con retraso del desarrollo: una revisión sistemática / Neurodevelopmental difficulties as a comprehensive category of learning disabilities in children with developmental delay: a systematic review

Un número considerable de estudiantes presenta dificultades de aprendizaje y bajo rendimiento académico, sin embargo su evaluación no siempre deriva en un diagnóstico concreto. Son categorizados como inmaduros, pero no se determinan ni la naturaleza ni las características de sus dificultades. El objetivo fue identificar los dominios evolutivos afectados en niños con retraso del desarrollo (RD) y valorar el concepto de dificultades neuroevolutivas como constructo comprensivo de las dificultades generalizadas de aprendizaje. Para ello, se realizó una revisión sistemática en las bases electrónicas Medline, PsycINFO, WOS, Eric, Dialnet y CSIC y, tras aplicar los criterios de inclusión, se seleccionaron 18 artículos. Los resultados confirman que RD se utiliza como etiqueta diagnóstica para caracterizar a niños con retrasos significativos en uno o varios ámbitos del desarrollo, pero no existe una definición de consenso ni criterios específicos para su diagnóstico, y solo sería de aplicación a niños de corta edad. Los dominios afectados coinciden con funciones neuroevolutivas y, en su etiología, destacan factores de riesgo biológico y ambiental. Se constata la persistencia en la niñez de las dificultades neuroevolutivas y su asociación con las dificultades generalizas en el aprendizaje de años escolares, apuntando a las primeras como constructo explicativo de las segundas

A considerable number of students have learning difficulties and low academic performance, yet their evaluation does not always lead to a concrete diagnosis. They are categorized as immature, but neither the nature nor the characteristics of their difficulties are determined. The aim of this study was to identify the developmental domains which are affected in children with developmental delay (DD) in order to assess the concept of neurodevelopmental difficulties as a comprehensive category and profile of generalized learning difficulties. To this end, a systematic review was carried out on the electronic databases Medline, PsycINFO, WOS, Eric, Dialnet and CSIC and, after applying the inclusion criteria, 18 articles were selected. The results confirm that DD is used as a diagnostic label to characterize children with significant delays in one or more developmental domains, but there is no definition of consensus nor specific criteria for its diagnosis, and it would only be applicable to young children. The affected domains coincide with neurodevelopmental functions, and biological and environmental risk factors stand out in their aetiology. Neurodevelopmental difficulties would encompass a wide spectrum of deficits with different levels of severity that, on interacting with each other, give rise to a variety of profiles