Are boys or girls more likely to have reading problems? For a long time the common wisdom was that it was boys. Studies from the 1970s confirmed this. Then, in the 1990s, two studies found no difference.
Now the results from four large studies have been analyzed and it appears that boys do indeed have more reading problems than girls. Depending on the study, boys are one-and-a-half to three times more likely to have problems with reading than girls. This difference holds up even when the children are matched for I.Q. These studies only looked at English speaking children (U.S., United Kingdom, and New Zealand).
The importance of studies such as these is not so much in determining the ratios, but as first step in determining the causal influences that underlie these sex differences. This understanding will hopefully lead to screening and early interventions.
Journal of the American Medical Association, 4/28/04.
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