Psychoeducational Challenges in Spanish Children With Dyslexia and Their Parents' Stress During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

BACKGROUND: Research during 2020 has been rapidly attending to the impact of COVID-19 on various dimensions of wellbeing (e.g., physical, psychological, lifestyle and routines) on adults and children around the world. However, less attention has focused on the psychoeducational impact on children and their families. To our knowledge, no currently available studies have looked specifically at the impact of COVID-19 on students with dyslexia and their families. Research on this topic is needed to offer greater support for this population of students and their families. OBJECTIVE: The main objective of this paper is to examine the psychoeducational impact of the required COVID-19 quarantine in Spain among children with dyslexia and their families. METHOD: A sample of 32 children with dyslexia and their mothers participated in this study. MEASURES: Children and adolescents with dyslexia and their mother completed several measures before the required national quarantine in Spain and again during the quarantine. Children completed measures of depression, state anxiety, reading activity, and reading motivation. Mothers provided demographic information and completed measures related to students' emotional and behavioral difficulties as well as parenting stress, parental distress, and a questionnaire about educational problems during quarantine. RESULTS: Major findings showed that during quarantine, children with dyslexia had increased levels of depression and anxiety symptoms, and parents perceived their children as having more emotional symptoms, hyperactivity-inattention, and conduct problems. During quarantine, children and adolescents with dyslexia also showed less reading activity and less reading motivation. Parents also reported significantly more stress, during quarantine compared to pre-quarantine conditions. Some demographic and psychological variables predicted children's state anxiety as well parental stress. The questionnaire related to impacts of quarantine also revealed several important findings. For example, nearly all parents of children with dyslexia reported (a) difficulties in establishing study routines, (b) that the quarantine negatively affected their child's learning, and (c) that they did not receive sufficient help from teachers on how to support their child's learning. Additionally, the vast majority of the parents were very worried about the child's learning and school success, the child's motivation and interest in reading, the child's peer relations, and the professional skills of the child's teacher. CONCLUSION: This study offers a preliminary investigation into this topic and elucidates several psychoeducational challenges that children with dyslexia and their families have experienced during the quarantine in Spain. Study findings highlight the need to provide immediate support for children with dyslexia and emphasizes the importance of developing prevention programs to mitigate any future negative impacts of COVID-19 on children with dyslexia and their parents.

Impact of Fragile X Syndrome on Their Families / Impacto del Síndrome de X frágil en sus familias

The aim of the present study is to describe the behavioral and emotional disturbances in the Fragile X Syndrome (FXS) and to analize the impact of having a member with FXS on different aspects of family functioning. A sample of 79 parents with a member with FXS and 80 parents with a member with typical development participated in the study. Results showed that between 17% and 66% of children and adolescents with FXS displayed significant behavioral and emotional disturbances and fewer prosocial behaviors. In addition, after controlling for behavioral and emotional difficulties, our results showed that families affected by FXS experienced a more negative impact on feelings about parenting, finances, siblings, and the degree of difficulty of living with a child or adolescent with FXS, and greater family adaptability and cohesion than the comparison group. In conclusion, our results highlight that it is important to consider these differences in clinical practice when supporting and counselling families affected by FXS

El objetivo del presente estudio es describir las alteraciones conductuales y emocionales en el síndrome de X frágil (SXF) y analizar las reperecusiones de tener un miembro con SXF en diferentes aspectos del funcionamiento familiar. Participaron 79 padres con un miembro con SXF y 80 padres con un miembro con desarrollo típico. Los resultados mostraron que entre el 17% y el 66% de los niños y adolescentes con SXF mostraron trastornos conductuales y emocionales significativos y menos comportamientos prosociales. Además, después de controlar las dificultades emocionales y de comportamiento, nuestros resultados mostraron que las familias afectadas por SXF experimentaron un impacto más negativo en los sentimientos relativos a la crianza de los hijos, las finanzas, los hermanos y el grado de dificultad de vivir con un niño o adolescente con SXF y más capacidad de adaptación familiar y cohesión que el grupo de comparación. Como conclusión, nuestros resultados destacan que en la práctica clínica es importante tener en cuenta estas diferencias al apoyar y asesorar a las familias afectadas por SXF

Parent and Teacher Ratings of Behavioral Executive Functioning for Students With Dyslexia.

Research exploring behavioral ratings of executive functioning (EF) for children and adolescents with dyslexia is scarce, which limits researchers, clinicians, educators, and parents from understanding and best supporting these students at home and/or school. Using the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function, Second Edition (BRIEF-2) rating scale to measure participants' EF behaviors in home and school settings, a primary objective of this study was to examine the EF of Spanish children and adolescents with dyslexia (n = 78) and to compare their EF with typically developing (TD) peers (n = 82). The study also sought to examine agreements and disagreements among teacher and parent raters. One key finding was that children and adolescents with dyslexia were rated by both parents and teachers as having more frequent cognitive, behavioral, and emotional EF difficulties in home and school compared with TD peers. However, teachers often reported greater severity of impairments than parents did across several EF domains, potentially suggesting a differential pattern of EF difficulties between home and school. Results are discussed in relation to multi-informant assessment practices for EF behaviors (e.g., there may be differential patterns of EF difficulties between home and school) and how the findings have implications for supporting children and adolescents with dyslexia.

Why have I failed? Why have I passed? A comparison of students' causal attributions in second language acquisition (A1-B2 levels).

BACKGROUND: Previous literature highlights the importance of causal attributions in achievement and motivation. However, the studies about causal attributions in second language acquisition (SLA) are limited and scarce. AIMS: This study was designed to determine the frequency of successful and unsuccessful activities per English level and to compare the causal attributions (explanations of outcomes) on successful and failure authentic tasks undertaken in the context of learning English as a foreign language (EFL) acquisition in an Official School of Languages (OSL). SAMPLE: To this aim, 407 native Spanish students from levels A1 (n = 111), A2 (n = 113), B1 (n = 98), and B2 (n = 85) in OSL participated in this study. METHOD: Participants completed Attribution to Success and Failure Questionnaires (ASQ & AFQ). RESULTS: Results of ANOVAs and Scheffe post hoc test show main significant differences between A1 and B2 students. Students at A1 level perceive their success in the foreign language (FL) as dependent on some internal but unstable controllable variables, such as effort and strategy, and to some external variables such as teacher influence, task difficulty, and class atmosphere. On the contrary, students at B2 level perceive that their successful outcomes in FL depend on ability, marks, class level, preparation, and enjoyment within the classroom, whereas they perceive that their failure outcomes are dependent on external factors such as luck, teacher influence, and/or task difficulty. CONCLUSIONS: Results provide evidence that students from OSL employ multiple causal attributions to explain their academic success and failure, which may also have educational implications for class teachers.

Geographically representative scholarship and internationalization in school and educational psychology: A bibliometric analysis of eight journals from 2002-2016.

Although the discipline of school and educational psychology is arguably international (e.g., relevant research and practice is evident in more than 80 countries), there has been limited research examining the international scholarship published in school and educational psychology journals. Such an assessment is important because it provides one important metric for better understanding the field's level of internationalization. The purpose of this study was to evaluate every article (N = 4456) published from 2002 to 2016 across eight school and educational psychology journals that publish international scholarship. Each article's authorship and participant data were coded and reported in terms of respective country and geographical region. Research questions examined, for example, how the published scholarship aligns with international employment data for school psychologists and whether particular journals published a geographically wider breadth of articles. Overall findings indicated that although the field of school psychology is present in more than 80 countries, the overall scholarship in the reviewed journals predominantly features participants living in, and authors working in, North America or Western Europe. However, one journal (School Psychology International) published relatively more articles with participants from outside of these geographic regions. Also, journals affiliated with a national professional organization largely differed in their percentage of "within-nation" publications (e.g., articles with participants living in the same nation that sponsors the respective journal). Explanations of the data are discussed and several recommendations are made that, if followed, could improve the internationalization and geographical representation of scholarship in school and educational psychology.

Un análisis documental de la investigación en dislexia en la edad adulta / A Documentary Analysis of Research in Dyslexia in Adulthood

La dislexia en la edad adulta afecta alrededor del 4% de la población. Por ello, el objetivo de este trabajo es analizar los aspectos metodológicos, así como los temas de investigación, acerca de la dislexia en población adulta. A partir de una búsqueda bibliográfica en la base de datos del Psychological Abstracts: PsycoINFO, se identifican y seleccionan los trabajos sobre los que se centra la revisión. Los resultados indican respecto a la metodología que la mayoría de estudios emplean métodos cuantitativos de investigación (59.4%), frente al 5.7% que emplea métodos cualitativos. También se emplean en el 10% de los trabajos diseños de N = 1, y, en menos del 10%, entrevistas, estudios longitudinales y técnicas neurobiológicas. En cuanto a los temas de investigación, el 40.6% de los trabajos se centran en analizar procesos cognitivos (conciencia fonológica, memoria, inteligencia, velocidad de procesamiento) y el rendimiento académico (lectura de palabras, lectura de pseudopalabras, ortografía y comprensión de textos), el 25.4% son estudios neurobiológicos (neurológicos y genéticos), el 12% se centran en la intervención, el 8% en identificación y el 5.4% analizan los problemas asociados a la dislexia en la edad adulta. Los objetivos prioritarios de la investigación parecen ser la caracterización de las manifestaciones de la dislexia en la edad adulta, seguidos de los estudios que se dirigen al esclarecimiento de las bases neurobiológicas. También se amplía la investigación hacia temas de orden práctico.

Dyslexia in adulthood affects around 4% of the population. Thus, this study offers an overview of the methodological aspects and the areas of research in dyslexia in adulthood. From a bibliographical search conducted in the Psychological Abstracts database: PsycINFO, we identified and selected the studies the review was to focus on. Results show in relation to methodological aspects, quantitative research methods are preferred in 59.4% of cases, whereas 5.7% opted for qualitative methods. Also, in 10% of the studies, used N=1 designs and in an under 10% studies used surveys, longitudinal/ follow-up studies or neurobiological procedures. In relation to the topics of research, 40.6% analyzed cognitive processes (phonemic awareness, memory, IQ, naming speed) and/or academic achievement (word reading, pseudoword reading, spelling, and reading comprehension), the 25.4% were neurobiological studies (neurological and genetics), the 12% were studies focusing on intervention, the 8% focused on identification/ diagnostic, and 5.4% analyzed associated problems to dyslexia in adulthood. The primary objectives of the research appear to be the characterisation of dyslexia and studies about neurobiological basis of dyslexia in adulthood. Research is also extended towards other, more practical matters.

Are There Lower Repetition Priming Effects in Children with Developmental Dyslexia? Priming Effects in Spanish with the Masked Lexical Decision Task.

The aim of this study was to compare the reaction times and errors of Spanish children with developmental dyslexia to the reaction times and errors of readers without dyslexia on a masked lexical decision task with identity or repetition priming. A priming paradigm was used to study the role of the lexical deficit in dyslexic children, manipulating the frequency and length of the words, with a short Stimulus Onset Asynchrony (SOA = 150 ms) and degraded stimuli. The sample consisted of 80 participants from 9 to 14 years old, divided equally into a group with a developmental dyslexia diagnosis and a control group without dyslexia. Results show that identity priming is higher in control children (133 ms) than in dyslexic children (55 ms). Thus, the "frequency" and "word length" variables are not the source or origin of this reduction in identity priming reaction times in children with developmental dyslexia compared to control children.

Knowledge and beliefs about developmental dyslexia in pre-service and in-service Spanish-speaking teachers.

The present study investigated knowledge, misconceptions, and lack of information about dyslexia among pre-service (PST) and in-service (IST) Spanish-speaking teachers in Spain and Peru. Two hundred and forty-six pre-service teachers and 267 in-service teachers completed the Knowledge and Beliefs about Developmental Dyslexia Scale (KBDDS). In-service teachers scored significantly higher on the total scale, and on the symptoms/diagnosis and general information subscales, than pre-service teachers. The percentages for misconceptions and lack of information ("do not know responses") were higher for PSTs than for ISTs on the general information subscale, the symptoms/diagnosis subscale, and the treatment subscale. Analyses of individual items were conducted to differentiate concepts that teachers did not know from misconceptions. In-service teacher self-efficacy, years of teaching experience, post-graduate training in dyslexia, and prior exposure to a child with dyslexia were positively related to knowledge about dyslexia. Implications for pre-service teacher training and professional development are discussed.

Instrucción en estrategias de comprensión lectora mediante enseñanza recíproca: efectos del agrupamiento de los estudiantes / Instruction of Reading Comprehension Strategies through Reciprocal Teaching: Effects of Grouping Formats

El objetivo de este estudio es comparar el efecto que dos formatos de agrupamiento de los estudiantes tiene sobre la comprensión lectora. La instrucción en comprensión lectora empleó la Enseñanza Recíproca (ER) que es un procedimiento que enseña a los estudiantes estrategias cognitivas para incrementar la comprensión lectora. Participaron 43 alumnos de 4º de E.P.: 18 fueron instruidos mediante ER en el aula ordinaria (GG); 8 mediante ER en pequeño grupo (PG) y 17 recibieron la enseñanza tradicional. Se emplearon dos tipos de medidas: medidas de efectos específicos (idea principal y supervisión y regulación) y medidas de generalización (test estandarizado, significado implícito y recuerdo). Los resultados demuestran que los dos grupos instruidos mediante ER fueron superiores en las medidas de efectos específicos y en las de generalización al grupo de comparación. Además, el grupo instruido en pequeño grupo (PG) fue superior al GG y GC en la mayoría de las medidas de efectos específicos y de generalización (AU)

The aim of this study was to compare the effects of two grouping formats on the reading comprehension. Reading comprehension Instruction used reciprocal teaching (RT) that is an instructional procedure to teach students cognitive strategies that might lead to improved reading comprehension. A sample of 43 students in the fourth year of primary education was selected: 18 children were instructed in regular classroom (GG), 8 were instructed in small group (PG), while the remaining 17 made up the comparison group (GC). Two types of comprehension measures were used: tasks of specific effects (getting the main idea, comprehension-monitoring test) and transfer effect measures (standardized test, word meaning inference, and free recall). Thus, the results show that both RT conditions benefited from the instruction, performing better than the comparison group in measures of specific effects and in the transfer effect measures. Furthermore, students from small group (PG) outperformed students in GG and GC on specific effects and in the transfer effect measures (AU)

Narraciones escritas en niños con Trastorno Específico del Lenguaje (TEL) / Written Narration in Specific Language Impairment (SLI)

El presente estudio examinó las narraciones escritas, así como la influencia de las variables lingüísticas sobre la competencia narrativa de los niños con Trastorno Específico del Lenguaje (TEL). Veinticinco niños con TEL y 25 niños con desarrollo normal del lenguaje, equilibrados en edad e inteligencia, realizaron una tarea de narración escrita. Los resultados indican que ambos grupos difieren en la producción de narraciones. Los niños con TEL no solo escribieron historias más cortas, sino también de menor organización y coherencia. Además cometieron significativamente más errores de ortografía natural y de sintaxis. Los análisis de regresión jerárquica mostraron que diferentes medidas lingüísticas -memoria secuencial auditiva, comprensión auditiva y expresión verbal- tienen un peso predictivo de la competencia narrativa.

The present study examined the written narrations and the influence of linguistic measures on narrative competence of children with specific language impairment (SLI). A narration task was used to assess narrative abilities in 25 children with SLI and 25 normally developing children, matched on age and IQ. Results indicated that the two groups did differ in the production of narratives. The children with SLI provided short narratives, poorly organized and less cohesive. Also, writings were characterized by more syntax errors and had high proportion of phonologically inaccurate spelling errors. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that different linguistic measures - auditory comprehension, verbal fluency and sequential auditory memory - played a predictive role in narrative competence.

Enseñanza recíproca y autoobservación del uso de estrategias: efectos sobre la comprensión de textos / Reciprocal teaching and self-monitoring of strategy use: effects on reading comprehension

La Enseñanza Recíproca (ER) es un procedimiento instruccional que enseña a los estudiantes estrategias cognitivas para incrementar la comprensión lectora. Por otro lado, la autoobservación (AO) del uso de estrategias puede incrementar los beneficios de la instrucción. Así, nos planteamos dos objetivos: (a) analizar la efectividad de la ER en aulas ordinarias; (b) determinar los beneficios de la AO del uso de estrategias a la instrucción mediante ER. Participaron 59 alumnos de 4º de E.P.: 19 fueron instruidos mediante ER; 18 mediante ER+AO y 22 recibieron la enseñanza tradicional. Se emplearon dos tipos de medidas: medidas de efectos específicos (idea principal, resumen y supervisión y regulación) y medidas de generalización (tests estandarizados, significado implícito y recuerdo). Los resultados demuestran que los grupos ER mejoraron en las medidas de efectos específicos y en algunas de las de generalización. Sin embargo, la AO no aporta ningún beneficio a la instrucción mediante ER (AU)

Reciprocal teaching (RT) is an instructional procedure to teach students cognitive strategies that might lead to improved reading comprehension. However, self-monitoring (SM) strategy use can optimize instruction of comprehension. Thus, the present study analyzed: (a) the efficacy of RT in regular classes and (b) the efficacy of RT + SM of strategy use. A sample of 59 students in the fourth year of primary education was selected: 19 children were selected as an RT condition, 18 as an RT + SM condition, while the remaining 22 made up the comparison group. Two types of comprehension measures were used: tasks of specific effects (getting the main idea, writing a summary, comprehension-monitoring test) and transfer effect measures (standardised tests, word meaning inference, and free recall). Thus, the results show that both the RT condition and the RT + SM condition benefited from the instruction, performing better than the comparison group in measures of specific effects and in some of the transfer effect measures. This result shows that SM is not a necessary component in the instruction of reading comprehension with RT (AU)

[Reciprocal teaching and self-monitoring of strategy use: effects on reading comprehension]. / Enseñanza recíproca y autoobservación del uso de estrategias: efectos sobre la comprensión de textos.

Reciprocal teaching (RT) is an instructional procedure to teach students cognitive strategies that might lead to improved reading comprehension. However, self-monitoring (SM) strategy use can optimize instruction of comprehension. Thus, the present study analyzed: (a) the efficacy of RT in regular classes and (b) the efficacy of RT + SM of strategy use. A sample of 59 students in the fourth year of primary education was selected: 19 children were selected as an RT condition, 18 as an RT + SM condition, while the remaining 22 made up the comparison group. Two types of comprehension measures were used: tasks of specific effects (getting the main idea, writing a summary, comprehension-monitoring test) and transfer effect measures (standardised tests, word meaning inference, and free recall). Thus, the results show that both the RT condition and the RT + SM condition benefited from the instruction, performing better than the comparison group in measures of specific effects and in some of the transfer effect measures. This result shows that SM is not a necessary component in the instruction of reading comprehension with RT.