SPOILER

In this 6-year prospective longitudinal study, we followed children who were originally diagnosed with dyscalculia at ages 10-11 years. For this article, we selected a subsample of 29 youths with arithmetic scores in the lowest 5th percentile at ages 16-17 years; they were designated as the persistent dyscalculia, or PD, group. They were matched by IQ and gender to 29 youths who did not reach criterion for persistent dyscalculia at 16-17 years, who formed the nonpersistent dyscalculia, or NPD, group. Although youths in the NPD group did not meet research criteria for dyscalculia, they still had significant difficulty in arithmetic because their scores were in the lowest quartile of their grade (Shalev et al., 2005). Thus, we are essentially dealing with a subgroup of individuals with more severe dyscalculia, which we classified as having persistent dyscalculia, and a second group whose problems, though still apparent, were less profound and termed nonpersistent dyscalculia.

At the time of the original diagnosis of dyscalculia when the respondents were 10-11 years old, higher levels of externalizing, internalizing, and attentional problems were reported for boys with dyscalculia compared to a normative comparison group, whereas differences for girls were limited to attentional problems (Shalev et al., 1995). In the present article, the association between PD and NPD and parent-reported and youth-reported behavior problems across the 6 years was examined.

The mean scores for all the CBCL and YSR syndrome scales for both groups were in the normal range, and when there were significant group differences, the effect sizes were small. Thus, even though those in the PD group can be characterized as having severe LD, this does not seem to put them at significant risk for psychopathology. Nonetheless, this group did have significantly higher scores than the NPD group on parent-reported and youth-reported attentional problems and on parent-reported total behavior problems and externalizing behaviors. The significant differences were due to these behavior problems at 16-17 years. Persistence of dyscalculia remained a significant predictor of these problems even when reading and writing problems and teacher-reported ADHD symptomatology were added to the model. Teacher-reported ADHD symptomatology did play a role in the prediction of externalizing problems and total behavior problems. The youths with the highest levels of behavior problems, particularly externalizing problems, were those with PD and high scores on teacher-reported ADHD symptomatology. The association between dyscalculia and behavior problems is in line with the findings of other studies on children with LD (Gadeyne et al., 2004; Prior et al., 1999; Willcutt & Pennington, 2000). The finding that behavior problem level and type of problem, particularly at ages 16-17 years, were associated with dyscalculia persistence indicates the importance of reevaluating not only a diagnosis of LD and its severity but also the behavioral difficulties associated with it, particularly for adolescents with a history of high ADHD symptomatology. As Lerner (2003) suggests, more extensive academic intervention may be called for in cases of comorbid LD and ADHD. In cases of comorbid dyscalculia and ADHD, behavioral intervention together with academic intervention may be warranted.

The significant group differences were not due to an increase in behavior problems in the PD group from ages 10-11 years to 16-17 years but rather to a decrease in reported behavior problems in the NPD group that started at ages 13-14 years and continued at that level to 16-17 years. This decrease in behavior problems in the NPD group gives some support to the hypothesis that the behavior problems seen in children with LD may be a reaction to academic difficulties and not just a comorbid condition with LD (Huntington & Bender, 1993; Lynam et al., 1993; Stanton et al., 1990).

Higher, albeit nonsignificant, levels of externalizing problems were already present at 10-11 years for children who would continue to be diagnosed with dyscalculia at ages 16-17. These findings are consistent with our previous report of more behavioral problems at ages 10-11 years in those children who continued to be classified as having dyscalculia at ages 13-14 years (Shalev et al., 2000). More adolescents with PD than with NPD were classified in the clinical range for Externalizing Problems at 16-17 years according to parent report. This raises the possibility that the trajectory of a persistent disability in arithmetic carries with it an increased risk for clinically significant levels of externalizing problems in late adolescence. This pattern is in line with that found in children with language disorders. In the 7- and 14-year follow-up of a community sample of children with speech and language impairment, the severity of the language problem was associated with later behavioral disturbance. This was true even after controlling for the initial behavioral status (Beitchman et al., 1996; Beitchman et al., 2001).

A higher percentage of the PD group at ages 10-11 was characterized not only as having externalizing problems but also as having a higher percentage of reading and writing problems. These differences failed to reach statistical significance and also did not contribute to the prediction of behavior problems in late adolescence. Nevertheless, reading and writing problems may add incremental risk for continued significant arithmetic problems in a subgroup of children classified as having dyscalculia at ages 10-11 years. It is perhaps these children who need to be followed carefully into adolescence in order to provide them with educational and therapeutic services directed to their LD, and if needed, their behavioral difficulties.

The degree of association between parent- and youth-reported behavior problems is in the range of those reported for youths in clinical samples (Handwerk et al., 1999; Huberty et al., 2000) and is higher for the younger ages. The lower correlations for the older age group may reflect less involvement of the parents in monitoring older adolescents' activities and behaviors (Baranowski, 1981; Feiring & Lewis, 1993; Van Wel, 1994). The low correlations for the older age group would seem to indicate more than just the growing independence of the adolescent because, at least in nonreferred samples, the correlations are much higher (Ferdinand, van der Ende, & Verhulst, 2004). At least one study of adolescent behavior problems found that parental characteristics, such as depression and stress, resulted in a lower level of agreement between parent- and adolescent-reported behavior problems (Youngstrom, Loeber, & Stouthamer-Loeber, 2000). This possibility could not be examined in the present study because parental personality and mental health characteristics were not assessed. It is also possible that a restricted range of parental CBCL scores in the NPD group, particularly for Delinquent Behavior, may have attenuated some of the correlations for this group.

The direction of discrepancies between the adolescents at 16-17 years and their parents was the same for both groups. Parents of adolescents with PD and NPD reported higher levels of problems on the CBCL than their children did on the YSR, which is similar to other clinical samples (Handwerk et al., 1999; Huberty et al., 2000; Kolko & Kazdin, 1993; Thurber & Snow, 1990). It is interesting that at 13-14 years, the only significant differences found were for Attention Problems and Delinquent Behavior. For Attention Problems, parents rated the youths higher than they rated themselves, whereas the reverse was true for Delinquent Behavior. Parents may have attributed the problems of their children to attention-related difficulties, whereas the youths themselves may have focused more on delinquent behavior. At early adolescence, the children may interpret their attention problems as bad behavior, while conversely, the parents may interpret their children's behavior as reflecting attentional deficits. At late adolescence, the significant decrease in youths' self-reported problems may be an attempt to underemphasize emotional and behavioral issues that may hinder their ability to integrate into compulsory military service, which is considered a normative experience by Israeli adolescents.

A possible limitation to the generalization of the findings of the current study was the use of a selected subsample of children matched for gender and IQ. Furthermore, we were unable to evaluate the influence of math tutoring, which some of the participants received, owing to the nature of this study, although the groups did not differ in the extent to which they received educational intervention. We did not seek to evaluate the efficacy of arithmetic intervention, and therefore, youths were not randomly assigned to treatment and no-treatment control groups. A further limitation of the study is lack of teacher-reported behavior problems. These were unavailable either because of parental refusal or lack of cooperation from the teachers.

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In summary, the results of this 6-year follow-up study demonstrate that the majority of children with dyscalculia, even those classified with PD, have a normative psychosocial profile. Having said this, there still remains an association between this LD and behavioral disturbances, particularly inattention and externalizing problems. Regardless of whether LD negatively affects the child's social and behavioral development or whether the behavioral difficulties and cognitive problems reflect the underpinnings of a neurological dysfunction, both of these domains have to be addressed in any habilitation program for children with dyscalculia.

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Op donderdag 5 maart 2009 18:32 schreef EggsTC het volgende:
Je zou het kunnen vergelijken met dyslectie maar dan met rekenen.

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Op vrijdag 6 maart 2009 01:44 schreef vererita het volgende:

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Nee daar is het niet mee te vergelijken, wel met dyspraxie daar dit ook samengaat met gedragproblemen

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Op zaterdag 7 maart 2009 10:07 schreef ChipsZak. het volgende:
Ik heb de verklaring dat ik dyscalculie heb.

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Op zaterdag 7 maart 2009 10:08 schreef veldmuis het volgende:

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Heb je ook last van gedragsproblematiek?

Er zijn ook onderzoeken dat dyscalculie in verband staat met andere neurologische problemen. Het enige neurologische probleem wat ik heb is zover ik weet dat ik epilepsie heb.

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Op zaterdag 7 maart 2009 10:11 schreef ChipsZak. het volgende:

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Wat versta jij onder gedragsproblematiek?

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Op zaterdag 7 maart 2009 10:12 schreef veldmuis het volgende:

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Nouja, problemen met je gedrag in het bijzonder eigenlijk.
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Op vrijdag 6 maart 2009 03:59 schreef FictionalFenna het volgende:
Misschien zorgt het hebben van dyscalculie wel voor gedragsproblemen.