Self-regulation and comprehension in shared reading: The moderating effects of verbal interactions and E-book discussion prompts

Abstract

The study examined how children's self-regulation skills measured by the strengths and weaknesses of ADHD symptoms and normal behavior rating are associated with story comprehension and how verbal engagement and e-book discussion prompts moderate this relation. Children aged 3–7 (N = 111, 50% female, Chinese as first language) read an interactive Chinese–English bilingual story e-book with or without discussion prompts twice with their parents (2020–2021). Results demonstrated that the lower children's self-regulation skills, the more they struggled with story comprehension. Critically, our data suggest that embedding e-book discussion prompts and more verbalization in English can mitigate this negative association for children with inattention/hyperactivity. These findings have critical implications for future e-book design, interventions, and home reading practice for children with inattention/hyperactivity and those at risk for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.