Explaining the Sex Difference in Dyslexia
Publication Date
6-2017
Document Type
Article
Organizational Units
College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences, Psychology
Keywords
Reading dyslexia, Sex difference, Processing speed, Inhibition, Verbal reasoning
Abstract
Background
Males are diagnosed with dyslexia more frequently than females, even in epidemiological samples. This may be explained by greater variance in males’ reading performance.
Methods
We expand on previous research by rigorously testing the variance difference theory, and testing for mediation of the sex difference by cognitive correlates. We developed an analytic framework that can be applied to group differences in any psychiatric disorder.
Results
Males’ overrepresentation in the low performance tail of the reading distribution was accounted for by mean and variance differences across sex. There was no sex difference at the high performance tail. Processing speed (PS) and inhibitory control partially mediated the sex difference. Verbal reasoning emerged as a strength in males.
Conclusions
Our results complement a previous finding that PS partially mediates the sex difference in symptoms of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and helps explain the sex difference in both dyslexia and ADHD and their comorbidity.
Copyright Date
2-8-2017
Copyright Statement / License for Reuse
All Rights Reserved.
Publication Statement
Copyright is held by the Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health. User is responsible for all copyright compliance. This article was originally published as:
Arnett, A. B., Pennington, B. F., Peterson, R. L., Willcutt, E. G., DeFries, J. C., & Olson, R. K. (2017). Explaining the sex difference in dyslexia. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 58(6), 719-727. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12691
Rights Holder
Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health
Provenance
Received from CHORUS
Language
English (eng)
Publication Title
Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry
Volume
58
Issue
6
First Page
719
Last Page
727
ISSN
1469-7610
Recommended Citation
Arnett, A. B., Pennington, B. F., Peterson, R. L., Willcutt, E. G., DeFries, J. C., & Olson, R. K. (2017). Explaining the sex difference in dyslexia. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 58(6), 719-727. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12691