The role of grit and resilience in children with reading disorder: a longitudinal cohort study

Abstract

Prior studies have suggested that grit and resilience predict both academic and career success. However, these qualities have not been examined in children with reading disorder (RD). We therefore investigated whether grit and resilience were associated with anxiety, depression, academic performance, and quality of life (QOL) in these students. This 3-year longitudinal cohort study included 163 participants with RD from 3 schools. Evaluations were completed by parents and/or teachers every 3 months. The Grit and Resilience Scale was adapted from the 10-item Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale and the 12-item Grit Scale. Outcome measures included anxiety (School Anxiety Scale - Teacher Report and the 8-item Spence Children's Anxiety Scale), depression (Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire), academic performance, and QOL (Pediatric QOL Inventory 4.0). Multivariate linear regression models (adjusting for age and sex) assessed the associations at baseline. Repeated measures analysis using mixed-effects models assessed the relationship longitudinally. There were statistically significant associations between grit and resilience and all outcomes at baseline and over time. After adjusting for age and sex, improved grit and resilience was associated with decreased anxiety (β = - 0.4, p < 0.001) and improved academic performance (β = 0.5, p < 0.001) when grit and resilience was measured by teachers, as well as decreased depression (β = - 0.3, p < 0.001) and improved QOL (β = 0.6, p < 0.001) when grit and resilience was measured by parents. Grit and resilience are significantly related to mental health, academic performance, and QOL in children with RD. This suggests that interventions to improve grit and resilience may lead to positive benefits.

Keywords: Academic performance; Anxiety; Depression; Dyslexia; Grit; Mental health; Quality of life; Reading disorder; Resilience.

Fig. 1

Mean normalized grit and resilience scores (with error bars), when measured by parents (a) and by teachers (b), among all participants at each timepoint, showing the overall change in mean grit and resilience over time

Fig. 2

Univariate relationships between baseline grit and resilience and baseline mental health outcomes, academic performance, and quality of life. In each figure, as baseline normalized grit and resilience scores increase, the normalized outcome scores at baseline improve (i.e., lower anxiety, lower depression, higher academic performance, and higher quality of life)