While parents may rightfully be concerned about their teen's poor reading skills, new research suggests that teens with reading problems also have a significantly higher risk of suicidal thoughts. The study, published in the Journal of Learning Disabilities, involved following the academic progress of 15-year-olds recruited from 6 different U.S. schools. What the researchers discovered after tracking the student's progress for 3 years is likely to send a shiver down any parent's spine. "In our study, poor readers were 3 times more likely than typical readers to consider or attempt suicide and 6 times more likely to drop-out of school," said Stephanie Sergent Daniel, of the Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.
Most people might assume that teens with pre-existing psychological conditions could perhaps have suicidal thoughts, but this latest study demonstrates that poor reading ability is in a class of its own. "Significant reading difficulties were independent of, or over and beyond, the risk from the psychiatric conditions," said senior researcher Frank Wood. "Regardless of whether they have independent psychiatric disorders, these students begin to get depressed or suicidal in higher numbers than typical readers."
The researchers findings were confirmed when they looked back over a 25-year study involving 50 randomly chosen students with reading disabilities. They found that 4 of the students had died by suicide, which they say is a higher rate than within the general population. "Educators and parents should be aware of the risk of suicidal thoughts and behavior among adolescents with reading problems," the researchers concluded.
Source: Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center
