Abstract
Extant literature has established a consistent association between aspects of reading motivation, such as enjoyment and self-perceived ability, and reading achievement, in that more motivated readers are generally more skilled readers. However, the developmental etiology of this relation is yet to be investigated. The present study explores the development of the motivation–achievement association and its genetic and environmental underpinnings. Applying cross-lagged design in a sample of 13,825 twins, we examined the relative contribution of genetic and environmental factors to the association between reading enjoyment and self-perceived ability and reading achievement. Children completed a reading comprehension task and self-reported their reading enjoyment and perceived ability twice in middle childhood: when they were 9–10 and 12 years old. Results showed a modest reciprocal association over time between reading motivation (enjoyment and perceived ability) and reading achievement. Reading motivation at age 9–10 statistically predicted the development of later achievement, and similarly, reading achievement at age 9–10 predicted the development of later motivation. This reciprocal association was observed beyond the stability of the variables and their contemporaneous correlation and was largely explained by genetic factors.
Highlights
Based on the existing literature summarized above, we propose the following hypotheses: 1. Reciprocal longitudinal links of similar strength exist between reading motivation and reading achievement
Distributions for reading achievement and reading motivation were similar across waves
Twin correlations were substantially larger for MZ than for DZ twins for reading motivation at both waves, indicating genetic but negligible shared environmental influences; the same was observed for reading achievement at age 12
Summary
Participants (N ϭ 13,825) are members of the Twins Early Development Study (TEDS), a population-based longitudinal study of twins that focuses on the longitudinal relations of cognitive and behavioral traits from infancy to young adulthood. Over 15,000 families from England and Wales with twins born between 1994 and 1996 have participated over the years (Haworth, Davis, & Plomin, 2013). The families in TEDS are representative of the British population in their socioeconomic distribution, ethnicity, and parental occupation (Oliver & Plomin, 2007). The present study included two waves of data collection. For each wave of data collection, children completed a series of questionnaires and cognitive assessments online. Data collections at age 9/10 and age 12 received approval by the Institute of Psychiatry ethics committee
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