Higher Short- and Long-Term Fluent Reading Abilities Following an Executive Functions-Based Reading Intervention Are Moderated by Executive Functions Improvement in Children With Reading Difficulties

Abstract

Previous studies have demonstrated how an executive functions-based reading training was related to improved reading and executive function abilities as well as changes in neural circuits underlying these abilities in children with reading disabilities and in typical readers. The executive components of this programme include visual attention, initiation, shifting/inhibition, speed of processing and working memory. Whether and which executive functions moderate these reading and cognitive effects in the short and long term remain elusive. This study aimed at assessing the short-term (immediately after) and long-term (3 months post-training) outcomes of a previously described computerised executive function-based reading training. Executive functions, speed of processing and visual attention were assessed pre/post-training, and reading abilities were assessed pre-, post- and long post-training in 41 children aged 8–12 (18 typical readers, 23 children with reading disabilities). The intervention improved reading fluency and word decoding in both reading groups, and the performance gain remained significant 3 months after the intervention. Moreover, improvements in speed of processing, inhibition and initiation post-training were found to be significant moderators of long-term reading improvement. Results suggest that individuals showing greater improvement in executive functions following reading training with an imposed time constraint show the greatest improvement in long-term reading gains.