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The aim of this study was to identify if children with dyslexia can be distinguished into discrete categories based on their domain deficits, indicating various neurocognitive subtypes of developmental dyslexia (DD). The sample included 101 students in the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th grades of primary school (mean age 11.15 years) with a diagnosis of dyslexia from a public center and Greek as their native language. The students underwent tests assessing a wide range of abilities, specifically phonological, memory, attention, processing speed abilities, motor, visual, and visual-motor skills. Cluster analysis revealed that children with dyslexia can be divided into three subtypes. The first subtype includes children identified based on their performance in tasks evaluating the phonological abilities, memory, attention, processing speed, along with visual-motor and visual skills. The second subtype comprises children identified based on their performance in memory abilities, motor, and visual-motor skills. The third subtype includes children identified solely based on their performance in the motor skills domain. In conclusion, our findings suggest that school-aged children with DD can be categorized into different subtypes with distinct neurocognitive characteristics. Furthermore, the results indicate that most children with dyslexia experience difficulties in more than one cognitive, sensory or motor domains, supporting contemporary models regarding the existence of multiple neurocognitive deficits in DD.

Which children go on to develop dyslexia? Since dyslexia has a multifactorial etiology, this question can be restated as: what are the factors that put children at high risk for developing dyslexia? It is argued that a useful theoretical framework to address this question is Pennington's (2006) multiple deficit model (MDM). This model replaces models that attribute dyslexia to a single underlying cause. Subsequently, the generalist genes hypothesis for learning (dis)abilities (Plomin and Kovas, 2005) is described and integrated with the MDM. Next, findings are presented from a longitudinal study with children at family risk for dyslexia. Such studies can contribute to testing and specifying the MDM. In this study, risk factors at both the child and family level were investigated. This led to the proposed intergenerational MDM, in which both parents confer liability via intertwined genetic and environmental pathways. Future scientific directions are discussed to investigate parent-offspring resemblance and transmission patterns, which will shed new light on disorder etiology.

Research on the etiology of dyslexia typically uses an approach based on a single core deficit, failing to understand how variations in combinations of factors contribute to reading development and how this combination relates to intervention outcome. To fill this gap, this study explored links between 28 cognitive, environmental, and demographic variables related to dyslexia by employing a network analysis using a large clinical database of 1,257 elementary school children. We found two highly connected subparts in the network: one comprising reading fluency and accuracy measures, and one comprising intelligence-related measures. Interestingly, phoneme awareness was functionally related to the controlled and accurate processing of letter–speech sound mappings, whereas rapid automatized naming was more functionally related to the automated convergence of visual and speech information. We found evidence for the contribution of a variety of factors to (a)typical reading development, though associated with different aspects of the reading process. As such, our results contradict prevailing claims that dyslexia is caused by a single core deficit. This study shows how the network approach to psychopathology can be used to study complex interactions within the reading network and discusses future directions for more personalized interventions.

Background Poor comprehenders are traditionally identified as having below‐average reading comprehension, average‐range word reading, and a discrepancy between the two. While oral language tends to be low in poor comprehenders, reading is a complex trait and heterogeneity may go undetected by group‐level comparisons. Methods We took a preregistered data‐driven approach to identify poor comprehenders and examine whether multiple distinct cognitive profiles underlie their difficulties. Latent mixture modelling identified reading profiles in 6846 children from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, based on reading and listening comprehension assessments at 8–9 years. A second mixture model examined variation in the cognitive profiles of weak comprehenders, using measures of reading, language, working memory, nonverbal ability, and inattention. Results A poor comprehender profile was not identified by the preregistered model. However, by additionally controlling for overall ability, a 6‐class model emerged that incorporated a profile with relatively weak comprehension (N = 947, 13.83%). Most of these children had weak reading comprehension in the context of good passage reading, accompanied by weaknesses in vocabulary and nonverbal ability. A small subgroup showed more severe comprehension difficulties in the context of additional cognitive impairments. Conclusions Isolated impairments in specific components of reading are rare, yet a data‐driven approach can be used to identify children with relatively weak comprehension. Vocabulary and nonverbal ability were most consistently weak within this group, with broader cognitive difficulties also apparent for a subset of children. These findings suggest that poor comprehension is best characterised along a continuum, and considered in light of multiple risks that influence severity. We used a data‐driven approach to identify different profiles of reading ability in 6846 children from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. The data did not support distinct profiles of decoding and comprehension difficulties, but a continuous distribution of reading skill. An additional exploratory analysis identified children with relatively weak comprehension compared to decoding ability: the majority had weaknesses in oral language and nonverbal ability (Class 2), but broader cognitive difficulties were apparent in those with more severe comprehension problems (Class 1).

Developmental dyslexia can be viewed as the result of the effects of single deficits or multiple deficits. This study presents a test of the applicability of a multifactor-interactive model (MFi-M) with a preliminary set of five variables corresponding to different neuropsychological functions involved in the reading process. The model has been tested on a sample of 55 school-age children with developmental dyslexia. The results show that the data fit a model in which each variable contributes to the reading ability in a non-additive but rather interactive way. These findings constitute a preliminary validation of the plausibility of the MFi-M, and encourage further research to add relevant factors and specify their relative weights. It is further discussed how subtype-based intervention approaches can be a suitable and advantageous framework for clinical intervention in a MFi-M perspective.

Dyslexia is a developmental disability affecting the acquisition of reading and writing skills, and its developmental nature makes longitudinal research of great importance. This study therefore investigated the cognitive-linguistic profiles of the typical-functioning dyslexics and high-functioning dyslexics with longitudinal cohorts of Chinese-speaking adolescents diagnosed with childhood dyslexia. These two dyslexic groups of fifty students (with 25 typical-functioning dyslexics) were assessed in Grade 2 (Time 1) and in Grade 8 (Time 2), whereas 25 typically developing controls were assessed at Time 2. Students were administered measures of phonological awareness, morphological skills, visual-orthographic knowledge, rapid naming, verbal working memory, and literacy skills. Results showed that, at Time 2, both dyslexic groups performed less well than the control group on most of the measures. Deficits in rapid naming were particularly salient in both dyslexic groups. Comparing the two dyslexic groups, the typical-functioning dyslexics had more multiple deficits than the high-functioning dyslexics. Findings highlight the importance of rapid naming deficits as potential universal causes of dyslexia and the utility of targeting visual-orthographic knowledge and morphological skills in supporting the development of dyslexic adolescents.

Background Wasting and stunting are common. They are implicated in the deaths of almost two million children each year and account for over 12% of disability-adjusted life years lost in young children. Wasting and stunting tend to be addressed as separate issues despite evidence of common causality and the fact that children may suffer simultaneously from both conditions ( WaSt ). Questions remain regarding the risks associated with WaSt , which children are most affected, and how best to reach them. Methods A database of cross-sectional survey datasets containing data for almost 1.8 million children was compiled. This was analysed to determine the intersection between sets of wasted, stunted, and underweight children; the association between being wasted and being stunted; the severity of wasting and stunting in WaSt children; the prevalence of WaSt by age and sex, and to identify weight-for-age z-score and mid-upper arm circumference thresholds for detecting cases of WaSt . An additional analysis of the WHO Growth Standards sought the maximum possible weight-for-age z-score for WaSt children. Results All children who were simultaneously wasted and stunted were also underweight. The maximum possible weight-for-age z-score in these children was below − 2.35. Low WHZ and low HAZ have a joint effect on WAZ which varies with age and sex. WaSt and “multiple anthropometric deficits” (i.e. being simultaneously wasted, stunted, and underweight) are identical conditions. The conditions of being wasted and being stunted are positively associated with each other. WaSt cases have more severe wasting than wasted only cases. WaSt cases have more severe stunting than stunted only cases. WaSt is largely a disease of younger children and of males. Cases of WaSt can be detected with excellent sensitivity and good specificity using weight-for-age. Conclusions The category “multiple anthropometric deficits” can be abandoned in favour of WaSt . Therapeutic feeding programs should cover WaSt cases given the high mortality risk associated with this condition. Work on treatment effectiveness, duration of treatment, and relapse after cure for WaSt cases should be undertaken. Routine reporting of the prevalence of WaSt should be encouraged. Further work on the aetiology, prevention, case-finding, and treatment of WaSt cases as well as the extent to which current interventions are reaching WaSt cases is required.

Background: The underlying mechanisms of dyslexia are still debated. The question remains as to whether there is evidence of a predominant type of deficit or whether it is a multideficit disorder with individual profiles. The assumptions of which mechanism causes the disorder influences the selection of the training approach. Methods: A sample of German neurotypical reading children (NT) and children with dyslexia (DYSL) was investigated with a comprehensive behavioral test battery assessing phonological, auditory, visual, and cerebellar performance, thus addressing performance described in three major theories in dyslexia. Results: In the present sample using the test battery of the present study, DYSL had the strongest impairment in phonological and auditory processing, accompanied by individual processing deficits in cerebellar performance, but only a few in the investigated visual domains. Phonological awareness and auditory performance were the only significant predictors for reading ability. Conclusion: These findings point out that those reading difficulties were associated with phonological as well as auditory processing deficits in the present sample. Future research should investigate individual deficit profiles longitudinally, with studies starting before literacy acquisition at as many processing domains as possible. These individual deficit profiles should then be used to select appropriate interventions to promote reading and spelling.

Although our understanding of reading acquisition has grown, the study of dyslexia in Standard Indonesian (SI) is still in its infancy. A recently developed assessment battery for young readers of SI was used to test the feasibility of Pennington et al.’s (2012) multiple-case approach to dyslexia in the highly transparent orthography of SI. Reading, spelling, phonological skills, and nonverbal IQ were assessed in 285 first, second, and third graders. Deficits in reading-related cognitive skills were classified and regression analyses were conducted to test the fit of single and multiple deficit models. Naming speed (NS) was the main predictor of reading and decoding fluency, followed by phonological awareness (PA), and verbal working memory (VWM). Accounting for 33% of the cases that satisfied both methods of individual prediction (i.e., classification of deficits and regression analysis), the hybrid model proved the best fit. None of the deficits in PA, NS, or VWM alone was sufficient to predict a risk of dyslexia in the present sample, nor was a deficit in PA necessary. Hence, there are multiple pathways to being at risk of dyslexia in SI, some involving single deficits, some multiple deficits, and some without deficits in PA, NS, or VWM.

Small and nutritionally at‐risk infants aged under 6 months (<6 months) are at high risk of death, but important evidence gaps exist on how to best identify them. We aimed to determine associations between anthropometric deficits and mortality among infants <6 months admitted to inpatient therapeutic care. A secondary analysis of 2002–2008 data included 5034 infants aged <6 months from 12 countries. We estimated the prevalence, concurrence, and severity of wasted, stunted, and underweight, as stand‐alone indicators, and using the Composite Index of Anthropometric Failure (CIAF), which combines these indicators into six subgroups of single and multiple anthropometric deficits and into one combined indicator called CIAF. We used logistic regression to examine the association of different anthropometric deficits with in‐programme mortality. Among 3692 infants aged <6 months with complete data, 3539 (95.8%) were underweight, 3058 (82.8%) were wasted, 2875 (77.8%) were stunted and 3575 (96.8%) had CIAF. Infants with multiple anthropometric deficits were presented with significantly lower anthropometric indices, that is, they were more severely wasted, stunted and underweight. A total of 141 infants died during inpatient therapeutic care. Among these, severely wasted (116) and severely underweight (138) infants had higher odds of mortality than normal infants (odds ratio [OR] = 2.1, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.2–2.7, p = 0.009, and OR = 3.3, 95% CI: 0.8–13.6, p = 0.09, respectively). Boys had higher odds of inpatient mortality than girls (OR = 1.40, 95% CI: 1.02–1.92, p = 0.03). Mortality was only observed in infants <6 months presenting multiple anthropometric deficits, although their odds of mortality were not significant, for example, OR = 2.4, 95% CI: 0.5–10.0, p = 0.21 for stunted, wasted and underweight infants <6 months. In conclusion, multiple anthropometric deficits (CIAF) is common among infants <6 months and may be reported in nutrition care programmes and surveys. Both weight‐for‐length/height z‐score and weight‐for‐age z‐score were found to be useful indicators for programme admission and in‐programme prognosis. Future work needs to explore which better accounts for admission bias. Boys appear to be most at‐risk of dying while receiving malnutrition therapeutic care. Programmes should ensure that all infants receive timely, evidence‐based, effective care. Infants under 6 months receiving inpatient therapeutic care and presenting with multiple anthropometric deficits are more severely wasted, stunted, and underweight. For them, low weight‐for‐length/height z‐score (WLZ) and weight‐for‐age z‐score (WAZ) strongly correlate with mortality, while associations with low length‐for‐age z‐score (LAZ) are weaker. Boys exhibit higher deficits and mortality risks compared to girls. Key messages Infants aged <6 months with multiple anthropometric deficits present more severely wasted, stunted, and underweight. Prevalence of concurrent deficits increases with age within this group. In inpatient therapeutic care, low weight‐for‐length/height z‐score (WLZ) and weight‐for‐age z‐score (WAZ) strongly correlate with mortality. In contrast, associations with low length‐for‐age z‐score (LAZ) are the weakest. Boys had a higher prevalence of anthropometric deficits and a higher mortality risk than girls. Future work is needed to see if these risk profiles also apply to the general population or infants <6 months admitted to newer feeding programmes using other criteria.