Date of Completion

Spring 5-1-2024

Thesis Advisor(s)

Dr. Nicole Landi, Kelly Mahaffy

Honors Major

Psychological Sciences

Disciplines

Cognition and Perception | Developmental Psychology

Abstract

This study interrogated the pervasive gender gap in dyslexia diagnosis. In order to do so, we analyzed Dr. Genevieve McArthur’s recent hypothesis that poor reading is linked to poor self-concept, anxiety, and inattention, which begins the cycle once again. Using a subset of data from the Child Mind Institute’s Healthy Brain Network biobank (children aged 7-11, n=1,725), we evaluated McArthur’s proposed relationships, and possible gendered differences within those relationships through probing which factors were important predictors of if a child did or did not receive a dyslexia diagnosis. We looked at word reading, biological sex, anxiety and inattention as possible predictors of dyslexia diagnosis and each of these (minus word reading) as predictors of word reading performance. Initial hypotheses were as follows: 1) Dyslexia diagnosis rates will be predicted by sex, with more male than female participants having a formal diagnosis. 2) Students with high anxiety scores will be more likely to have a dyslexia diagnosis, and worse reading performance. 3) Students with high Inattention scores will be more likely to have a dyslexia diagnosis, and worse reading performance. Word reading alone was found to predict dyslexia diagnosis, whereas sex, phonological processing, and inattention were found to predict word reading scores.

Download

Share

COinS