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Review
. 2023 Jan;27(2):182-200.
doi: 10.1177/10870547221130111. Epub 2022 Oct 22.

Are Reading Interventions Effective for At-Risk Readers with ADHD? A Meta-Analysis

Elizabeth S M Chan  1 , Jeffrey A Shero  1 , Eric D Hand  1 , Alissa M Cole  1 , Fatou Gaye  1 , Jamie A Spiegel  1 , Michael J Kofler  1
Affiliations
Review

Are Reading Interventions Effective for At-Risk Readers with ADHD? A Meta-Analysis

Elizabeth S M Chan et al. J Atten Disord. 2023 Jan.

Abstract

Objective: Utilizing a multi-level meta-analytic approach, this review is the first to systematically quantify the efficacy of reading interventions for school-aged children with ADHD and identify potential factors that may increase the success of reading-related interventions for these children.

Method: 18 studies (15 peer-reviewed articles, 3 dissertations) published from 1986 to 2020 (N = 564) were meta-analyzed.

Results: Findings revealed reading interventions are highly effective for improving reading skills based on both study-developed/curriculum-based measures (g = 1.91) and standardized/norm-referenced achievement tests (g = 1.11) in high-quality studies of children with rigorously-diagnosed ADHD. Reading interventions that include at least 30 hours of intervention targeting decoding/phonemic awareness meet all benchmarks to be considered a Level 1 (Well-Established) Evidence-Based Practice with Strong Research Support for children with ADHD based on clinical and special education criteria.

Conclusions: Our findings collectively indicate that reading interventions should be the first-line treatment for reading difficulties among at-risk readers with ADHD.

Keywords: ADHD; meta-analysis; reading intervention.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations of interest: none

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
PRISMA flow diagram of included studies.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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