|
Abstract
|
PURPOSE: This exploratory study builds upon the small body of existing research investigating reading comprehension deficits in college students with acquired brain injury (ABI).
METHOD: Twenty-four community college students with ABI completed a battery of questionnaires and standardized tests to characterize self-perceptions of academic reading ability, performance on a standardized reading comprehension measure, and a variety of cognitive functions of this population. Half of the participants in the sample reported traumatic brain injury (n = 12) and half reported non-traumatic ABI (n = 12).
RESULTS: College students with both traumatic and non-traumatic ABI cite problems with reading comprehension and academic performance post injury. Mean performance on a standardized reading measure, the Nelson Denny Reading Test (NDRT), was low to below average and was significantly correlated with performance on the Speed and Capacity of Language Processing test (SCOLP). Injury status of traumatic versus non-traumatic ABI did not differentiate results. Regression analysis showed that measures of verbal attention and suppression obtained from the California Verbal Language Test-II (CVLT-II) predicted total scores on the NDRT.
CONCLUSIONS: College students with ABI are vulnerable to reading comprehension problems.
RESULTS align with other research suggesting that verbal attention and suppression problems may be contributing factors.
Language: en |