Reading-related behavioral characteristics of Chinese children with dyslexia: The use of the teachers' behavior checklist in Hong Kong

Primary school teachers rated the frequency of occurrence of 65 reading-related behavioral characteristics of Grade 1 to Grade 6 Chinese school children in Hong Kong. An item factor analysis based on ratings on 554 students yielded two major dimensions of behavioral characteristics on reading and writing problems, and sequencing and spatial difficulties. In predicting the literacy and cognitive skills of a separate sample of 184 school children, gender, age, and the two empirical scales developed on the basis of factor analysis were used as predictors in regression analyses. The findings indicated that reading and writing problems emerged as the most predominant predictor of various literacy and cognitive deficits. The two mean scores of behavioral characteristics for children with dyslexia were significantly elevated as compared with those for children without dyslexia. Implications of the findings for screening dyslexia and predicting specific cognitive deficits using classroom-based behavior checklists are discussed.