What is it about?
Reading anxiety is associated with reading difficulties, but most empirical studies have examined this relationship at a single point in time. The scarcity of longitudinal evidence has limited our understanding of the extent to which reading development or other factors such as early cognitive skills (e.g., general intelligence or working memory) predict later reading anxiety. To address this gap, we assessed the reading skills of 499 children at eight time points, from first through eighth grade. We also measured general intelligence and working memory in first grade and reading anxiety in eighth grade. Our findings showed that initial reading skills, reading development during elementary school and reading development during middle school each uniquely predicted reading anxiety in eighth grade. In contrast, after accounting for reading skills, neither general intelligence nor working memory predicted directly later reading anxiety. These findings suggest that persistent reading difficulties may play an important role in the development of internalizing problems among adolescents.
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Why is it important?
This study provides the first long-term longitudinal evidence demonstrating that early reading difficulties and slower reading development are associated with later reading anxiety. Our findings also suggest that there is no single sensitive period during reading development that is uniquely responsible for the emergence of reading anxiety. Instead, poor reading skills appear to exert a cumulative influence, with difficulties that persist over time contributing incrementally to later reading anxiety.
Perspectives
“Reading difficulties are often underestimated and viewed primarily as a source of academic challenges. But they are more than that. Poor reading skills can undermine students’ self-esteem, can have detrimental effects on their self-concept as learners, and ultimately affect their emotional well-being. This is because reading is not merely one subject taught in elementary school, but a foundational skill that students are expected to use across all subjects throughout their education. We hope this study raises awareness among educators and policymakers that effective reading interventions for students with reading difficulties are essential not only for improving academic achievement but also for promoting emotional well-being.”
Dr Dacian Dolean
Universitatea Babes-Bolyai
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Reading and cognitive predictors of reading anxiety: An 8-year longitudinal study., Journal of Educational Psychology, July 2026, American Psychological Association (APA),
DOI: 10.1037/edu0001065.
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