Abstract

Based on data from 156 typically developing 10–12-year-olds from Sweden, reading comprehension skills were studied in three subgroups: those classified with specific poor word decoding skills (n = 10), those with specific poor language comprehension (n = 12), and those with mixed difficulties in word decoding and language comprehension (n = 11). The mixed poor group achieved significantly lower scores than both specific groups in reading comprehension, and was the only group displaying poor reading comprehension test results relative to the performance of the full sample. Results are indicative of the necessity of a combined effect of poor word decoding and language in reading comprehension difficulties for this group. Implications and limitations are discussed.