Using the Simple View of Reading to Examine Reading Comprehension Proficiency in Youth With and Without Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Reading comprehension may be an area of challenge for youth with ADHD but is currently understudied. The overarching goal of this study was to examine reading comprehension (RC) performance drawing on the Simple View of Reading (Gough Tunmer, 1986). The first objective was to compare reading comprehension proficiency and related reading measures between youth with ADHD and typically developing youth. Findings showed that there were no statistically significant differences between the two groups on the measure of RC, word level decoding, and oral language comprehension. In contrast, youth with ADHD performed significantly lower than their peer group on the word level reading fluency measure and on a verbal working memory measure. Next, I explored predictors of performance on the RC measures. Multiple regression analyses revealed that only word level decoding and language comprehension proficiency were unique predictors of performance on each of the RC measures. A supplementary analysis revealed that the contribution of working memory to RC was mediated by the language comprehension composite. Finally, I tested the convergent validity of the two RC measures using latent profile analysis. As the latent profile analysis showed that profiles of performance converged across the three latent profile groups (lowest, middle, and highest performers), the findings supported the convergent validity of the two measures of RC. Further analyses of the three latent profile subgroups using a multinomial regression analysis revealed that language comprehension and word level decoding differentiated the low-performing group compared to the middle- and highest-performing groups. Overall, these findings suggest that youth with ADHD and their typically developing peers are more likely to demonstrate weaker RC if they have less proficiency in oral language comprehension skills and/or word level decoding ability, supporting the Simple View of Reading.Ph.D