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The Co-development of Reading and Attention from Middle Childhood to Early Adolescence: A Multivariate Latent Growth Curve Study

Attention skills are a strong predictor of reading comprehension from childhood through to adolescence. However, less is known about the developmental relations between these two domains across this period. This study examined the co-development of reading and attention in a community sample of 614 Australian school students. Reading and attention were assessed biennially at ages 8, 10, 12 and 14. Results of univariate latent growth models demonstrated, on average, curvilinear trajectories for reading in which rapid growth across younger age spans decelerates as children reach adolescence. By contrast, attention behaviors followed a gradually increasing linear trajectory with significant inter-individual variation in development. Significant negative correlations were observed between the intercept and slope factors in both reading (r=-.62) and attention models (r=-.39) suggesting compensatory growth patterns in which poorer performing students in both domains at age 8 have steeper trajectories than their higher performing peers. Multivariate latent growth models examined the interrelatedness of reading and attention, controlling for gender and socioeconomic status. Reading comprehension and attention were positively correlated a) at the intercept (r=.54) indicating an association between better attention and higher reading achievement at age 8; and b) in the slope, such that reading growth was positively correlated with increasing attentive behaviors over time (r=.38). Evidence for the co-development of reading and attention provides support for the multiple deficit model theory, and suggests that developing attention capability could be one focus of attempts to improve reading attainment in early adolescence.