Possible Relationships Between Depressive Symptoms and Reading

One hundred and fifty-five students (average age of 127 months) were tested using the WRAT-3 reading and arithmetic subtests, the Self-Perception Profile for Children with Learning Disabilities (SPPLD) and the Children’s Depression Inventory (CDI). One year later they were again tested with the same instruments. The authors hypothesised that increases in depressive symptoms would lead to lowered performance in reading and arithmetic, over and above any changes in performance due to self-perceived competence in those areas. Although academic self-concept scores did not account for any significant variation in academic growth/decline, CDI scores did account for a small but significant portion of variance in academic score changes. Depressive symptoms, even at nonpatho-logic levels, are able to affect academic performance over time.