Examining the literacy and cognitive-linguistic profiles in Chinese adolescent students with dyslexia: A latent transition analysis

The present study aimed to examine the patterns of stability and change in literacy and cognitive-linguistic skills over time and their implications for adolescent students with dyslexia. One hundred and sixty-five high school students with dyslexia were administered measures of literacy skills and cognitive-linguistic skills: visual-orthographic knowledge, phonological awareness, morphological skills, phonological memory, and rapid naming. These students were assessed in 2nd (Time 1, age: M=106.10, SD=20.08 months) and 9th grades (Time 2, age: M=182.50, SD=16.80 months). Latent transition analysis was used to identify stability and change in literacy skills, which yielded four profiles: stable low, decreasing, increasing, and stable high. Results showed that students with high literacy skills obtained higher scores on rapid naming and visual-orthographic knowledge than the students with low literacy skills at Time 1. Also, students with high and increasing (improved) literacy skills achieved higher scores on rapid naming and morphological skills than their peers with low literacy skills at Time 2. Together, these findings suggest that individual differences in rapid naming may account for stability and change in reading difficulties and also highlight the potential importance of examining variations in cognitive-linguistic and literacy skills for individuals with dyslexia across different developmental time points.