Prevalence rates of developmental reading disability (RD) are relatively high. In addition to impeding academic success and restricting vocational opportunities, FD is an important risk factor for low self-esteem and behavioral problems (e.g., antisocial behavior). These difficulties, in turn, place children at-risk for psychological problems, including substance abuse, conduct disorder,, delinquency, and depression. A better understanding of the cognitive processes that contribute to reading will facilitate the development of more effective approaches to preventing and/or treating RD, thereby decreasing the risk of associated psychological disorders. Two cognitive skills consistently found to be associated with, and predictive of RD, are phonological disorders. Two cognitive skills consistently found to be associated with, and predictive of RD, are phonological awareness and naming speed. Unfortunately, many of the studies of the relation between these two skills and reading have methodological and statistical shortcomings. The current proposal is an attempt to use recently developed methodological and statistical techniques to longitudinally investigate the differential contributions of phonological awareness and naming speed to the development of specific reading abilities in young children at-risk for RD. The proposed study will serve to extend the generalizability of the relation among these skills by (1) testing for structural invariance between t-risk and non-risk children, (2) examining the relations among these constructs in a sample with a wide distribution of reading abilities, and (3) targeting both African American and Caucasian children from diverse of socioeconomic backgrounds.
