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Educational Psychology
An International Journal of Experimental Educational Psychology
ISSN: 0144-3410 (Print) 1469-5820 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/cedp20
Patterns of word reading skill, interest and self-

concept of ability
Jaana Viljaranta, Noona Kiuru, Marja-Kristiina Lerkkanen, Gintautas

Silinskas, Anna-Maija Poikkeus & Jari-Erik Nurmi
To cite this article: Jaana Viljaranta, Noona Kiuru, Marja-Kristiina Lerkkanen, Gintautas
Silinskas, Anna-Maija Poikkeus & Jari-Erik Nurmi (2016): Patterns of word reading skill, interest
and self-concept of ability, Educational Psychology, DOI: 10.1080/01443410.2016.1165798
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01443410.2016.1165798
Published online: 11 Apr 2016.
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Educational Psychology, 2016
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01443410.2016.1165798
Patterns of word reading skill, interest and self-concept of ability

Jaana Viljarantaa, Noona Kiurua, Marja-Kristiina Lerkkanenb, Gintautas Silinskasa, Anna-Maija
Poikkeusb and Jari-Erik Nurmia
a
Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland; bDepartment of Teacher Education, University
of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
Downloaded by [Library Services City University London] at 02:34 14 April 2016
ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

The majority of previous research on academic skills, self-concept of ability Received 2 January 2015
and interest has deployed the variable-oriented approach and focused on Accepted 10 March 2016
self-concept, or ability, or interest only. This study examined the patterns KEYWORDS
and dynamics of pattern change in Finnish children’s word reading skill, Reading; interest;
self-concept of ability and interest from kindergarten to Grade 2. Six groups self-concept; patterns;
of children were identified by using the I-states as objects analysis (ISOA) dynamics of pattern change
procedure: (a) low skills, negative self-concept but high interest; (b) high
skills but low interest; (c) average; (d) high skills, positive self-concept and
high interest; (e) low skills, negative self-concept and low interest; and (f )
positive self-concept but low interest. The typically occurring transitions
between groups were characterised by changes in either reading-related
interest or simultaneously in self-concept and skills. Gender, risk for reading
difficulties (RD), being an early reader, mother’s level of education and home
literacy environment predicted group membership in kindergarten, and
gender, RD risk, being an early reader, and mother’s level of education also
predicted transitions between groups.
Several scholars have proposed that students who have a positive self-concept of their ability and who
value and are interested in specific academic tasks perform better and are more adaptively engaged
in those tasks than students with negative self-perceptions and a low level of interest (e.g. Eccles et al.,
1983; Pintrich & Schunk, 2008). Many studies have also provided evidence for this notion (e.g. Ecalle,
Magnan, & Gibert, 2006; Gottfried, 1990; Wigfield, 1997; for review, see Valentine, DuBois, & Cooper,
2004). It has been suggested, however, that the associations between academic skills, self-concept of
ability, and interest and task values are not necessarily similar for all individuals (e.g. Aunola, Leskinen,
Onatsu-Arvilommi, & Nurmi, 2002; Nurmi & Aunola, 2005), and therefore, alternative and new meth-
odological frameworks are needed. Whereas the traditional variable-oriented approach focuses on
the universal associations between variables, the person-oriented approach focuses on identifying
groups of individuals who show different combinations, profiles, or patterns of values in different var-
iables (Bergman & Andersson, 2010; Bergman, Magnusson, & El-Khouri, 2003). Thus, person-oriented
analyses can reveal findings (e.g. nonlinear patterns) not seen in standard variable-oriented analyses.
Since previous research on reading skills, self-concept of ability and interest has been dominated by
the variable-oriented approach, the present study increases our understanding of the dynamics of
CONTACT Jaana Viljaranta jaana.h.viljaranta@jyu.fi

© 2016 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
2 J. Viljaranta et al.
these constructs by using a person-oriented analysis of longitudinal data on children as they move
from kindergarten to Grade 2.
Self-concept of ability and interest

The expectancy-value model of achievement motivation suggests that beliefs and expectancies related
to academic situations and subjective task values concerning different subject areas are central for
different academic outcomes (see also Eccles et al., 1983; Wigfield & Eccles, 2000). Expectancies and
ability beliefs refer to students’ beliefs concerning their competence in upcoming academic tasks. In the
present study, the term self-concept of ability is used to refer to these kinds of beliefs and expectancies
(see also Aunola et al., 2002; Nurmi & Aunola, 2005). The task value aspect of expectancy-value model
includes three components: attainment value, utility value, and intrinsic or interest value. Younger stu-
dents cannot clearly distinguish the different dimensions of task values, except interest value (Eccles,
Wigfield, Harold, & Blumenfield, 1993), which refers to how much a child likes and enjoys doing tasks
related to a particular topic. In the present study, the term interest is used to refer to students liking
and enjoying tasks related to reading.
Expectancy-value theory (Eccles et al., 1983) suggests that expectancies and values are associated
so that higher ability beliefs are related to higher task values (see also Bandura, 1997; Pintrich & Schunk,
2008). Empirical research has confirmed that interest and self-concept of ability are separate (e.g. Eccels,
O’Neill, & Wigfield, 2005) but positively related constructs (e.g. Eccles & Wigfield, 1995; Gottfried, 1990).
However, the findings concerning longitudinal relations between interest and self-concept of ability are
contradictory; some studies show weak or even nonexistent associations (e.g. Jacobs, Lanza, Osgood,
Eccles, & Wigfield, 2002; Marsh, Trautwein, Lüdtke, Köller, & Baumert, 2005; Spinath & Spinath, 2005;
Spinath & Steinmayr, 2008). One possible reason for such contradictory findings is that the associations
between these constructs are not the same for all students, meaning that there might be students
who, for example, think they are good in a certain subject but they are not necessarily interested in
that subject.
Reading skills, self-concept of ability and interest

Learning to read is one of the most important academic goals at the beginning of primary school. The
development of reading skills is affected by different cognitive antecedents, such as letter knowledge,
phonological awareness and naming speed (Lonigan, Burgess, & Anthony, 2000; Wimmer, Mayringer,
& Landerl, 2000). Evidence also suggests that high interest in reading (e.g. Ecalle et al., 2006; Gottfried,
1990; Wigfield, 1997) and high reading self-concept (Quirk, Schwanenflugel, & Webb, 2009; for a review,
see Valentine et al., 2004) promote later improvement in reading skills among younger and older stu-
dents. However, previous reading skills and related successes and failures have also been shown to
influence students’ reading self-concept (Aunola et al., 2002; Chapman & Tunmer, 1997; Quirk et al.,
2009) and interest in reading (Skaalvik & Valas, 1999).
Previous studies examining the associations between self-concept of ability, interest in reading and
reading skills include some limitations. First, only a few studies have examined interest, self-concept of
ability and reading performance among children in the beginning of their school career (as an excep-
tion, see Gottfried, 1990; Nurmi & Aunola, 2005; Viljaranta, Tolvanen, Aunola, & Nurmi, 2014). Second,
only a few prior studies have used a person-oriented approach to examine the associations of interest,
self-concept of ability and reading skills (Aunola et al., 2002; Nurmi & Aunola, 2005). While variable-ori-
ented approach is based on the examination of (typically linear) associations between variables in a
particular sample, in the person-oriented approach different subgroups of individuals are identified
based on the combinations of individual characteristics the individuals show (Bergman & Andersson,
2010; Bergman & Nurmi, 2010). As an exception, Mägi et al. (2013) examined the types of subgroups of
children in Grades 1 and 2 that can be identified based on their reading skills and task-avoidant behav-
iour. Four subgroups were identified. Two subgroups were in accordance with earlier variable-oriented
Educational Psychology 3
results (i.e. children with a high level of task avoidance and a low level of reading skill and children with
low levels of task avoidance and high-level reading skill), whereas two subgroups showed a nonlinear
association between task avoidance and reading skill (i.e. children with high levels of both task avoid-
ance and reading skill and children with low levels of both task avoidance and reading skill), which
would not have been found with variable-oriented methods. In another study, Aunola et al. (2002) used
person-oriented methods to examine the development of reading skills and self-concept of ability as
a cumulative process during the first grade. The results suggested that person-oriented approach pro-
vides an important option to examine how large a proportion of the sample follows a certain pattern
of reading skills and self-concept of ability over time.
The present study broadens the previous research by a) focusing on a period of time from the
kindergarten to the end of Grade 2, that is the most critical time regarding reading skill development
(Soodla et al., 2015; Torppa et al., in press) and by b) investigating word-reading skill, related interest
and self-concept in the same study. We aim to identify subgroups of individuals that differ in terms of
the combinations of their word-reading skill, related interest and self-concept. In addition, we exam-
ine changes in group memberships across the measurements. As far as we know, none of the prior
person-oriented studies in the reading domain have included word reading skill, reading interest and
self-concept of ability in reading in the same study.
Child- and family-related antecedents

Many factors related to children’s home environment, individual features and previous experiences
might affect self-concept of ability, interest and academic performance (Eccles et al., 1983). Gender is
one such factor. Previous research has shown that reading interest is higher among girls than boys (e.g.
Jacobs et al., 2002; Wigfield et al., 1997), and girls’ reading-related self-concept is more positive than
boys’ (e.g. Fredricks & Eccles, 2002; Marsh & Yeung, 1998). Girls also outperform boys in most reading
tasks (Halpern & LaMay, 2000; Logan & Johnston, 2009; Lynch, 2002; Robinson & Lubienski, 2011).
Previous research has also shown that early individual differences in reading skills can influence
children’s later performance and motivation (Chapman & Tunmer, 1997; Lepola, Salonen, & Vauras,
2000; Poskiparta, Niemi, Lepola, Ahtola, & Laine, 2003). For example, children classed as early readers
based on their reading skill in kindergarten perform better in reading tasks in the beginning of school
(Silvén, Poskiparta, Niemi, & Voeten, 2007). In addition, children at-risk for reading difficulties (RD)
determined by familial background for dyslexia or by deficits in early language development are at
high risk of manifesting difficulties in reading also later in school (Gilger, Pennington, & DeFries, 1991;
Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998).
Parents’ educational level has been shown to be one of the key factors predicting children’s literacy
achievement (e.g. Curenton & Justice, 2008; Leppänen, Niemi, Aunola, & Nurmi, 2004; Lewis, 2000). For
instance, Leppänen et al. (2004) found that mothers of good readers are better educated than moth-
ers of average and poor readers (see also Torppa, Poikkeus, Laakso, Eklund, & Lyytinen, 2006). Parents’
education has been found to influence children’s achievement and motivation via several factors, such
as the quality of the home learning environment, experiences, and parental action and investment in
resources that promote children’s development (Davis-Kean, 2005; Eccles, Wigfield, & Schiefele, 1998;
Eccles & Harold, 1996; Guo & Harris, 2000; Smith, Brooks-Gunn, & Klebanov, 1997; Sylva, 2010).
Similarly, the home literacy environment plays an important role in the development of children’s
reading-related skills (e.g. Evans, Show, & Bell, 2000; Frijters, Barron, & Brunello, 2000; Sénéchal, LeFevre,
Thomas, & Daley, 1998). According to the Home Literacy model (Sénéchal, 2006; Sénéchal & LeFevre,
2002; Sénéchal et al., 1998), informal reading-related activities are associated with the environment
parents create at home, such as the amount of shared reading. In turn, formal reading-related activities
refer to exposing a child to print per se, such as teaching letter names, sounds, or teaching of reading.
For example, shared reading promotes children’s oral language skills, such as vocabulary and syntactic
skills (e.g. Evans et al., 2000; Foy & Mann, 2003; Frijters et al., 2000; Sénéchal & LeFevre, 2002; Whitehurst
& Lonigan, 2003), and is related to children’s interest (e.g. Frijters et al., 2000; Weigel, Martin, & Bennett,
2006). Although previous variable-oriented research exists, as far as we know no previous attempts
have been made to examine child and family-related antecedents of the linear and nonlinear patterns
of word reading skill and related interest and self-concept from kindergarten to Grade 2.
Finnish schools
The sample of the present study is Finnish children at the beginning of their school career. Largely
due to the consistent nature of the highly transparent orthography of Finnish language, word reading
accuracy hits a ceiling in typically developing students after a few months of formal reading instruction
at Grade 1 (e.g. Seymour, Aro, & Erskine, 2003), and by the end of Grade 1 word reading speed has to
be taken into account together with reading accuracy when measuring word recognition. Reading
difficulties among Finnish-speaking children are typically identified in reading fluency rather than in
accuracy (e.g. Holopainen, Ahonen, & Lyytinen, 2001), and around 5–20% of children with reading
difficulties (depending on criteria) at Grades 1 to 2 get part time special education or remedial reading
instruction at school.
In Finland, compulsory education begins at the year of a child’s seventh birthday and children partic-
ipate a one-year kindergarten education during the year before school begins. The Finnish kindergarten
curriculum (National Board of Education, 2000) underscores that kindergarten education should create
a foundation for literacy skills, but children’s reading skills are not explicitly taught; rather, they are
supported by an environment that promotes their language development (e.g. by listening, speaking,
discussing and shared reading activities) and generates children’s interest in letters and phonemes
through play activities. In such an environment, children are expected to develop their vocabulary
and pre-literacy skills, including phonological awareness. In Grade 1, decoding and spelling are taught
simultaneously, with an emphasis on the systematic use of phonics and letter – sound relationships
(Lerkkanen, 2007). Because of the transparency of Finnish orthographies, systematic reading instruction
starting in first grade is based on grapheme phoneme correspondence (phonics). At the beginning
students focus on learning to decode syllables and words with an ultimate aim to become able to
spell words and decode also nonwords. As decoding skills gradually become more automatic during
the Grade 1 fall, reading instruction focuses more on practicing reading fluency and comprehension
towards the end of first grade and further at Grade 2.
Research questions
The present study examined the following research questions: (a) What kind of subgroups of chil-
dren can be identified based on their reading-related interest, self-concept of ability and word
reading skill in kindergarten, Grades 1 and 2? (b) How stable is the membership in these groups?
(c) What types of changes between different groups are typical and atypical from kindergarten
to Grade 2? (d) To what extent do child-related (i.e. gender, risk for RD, being an early reader) and
family-related factors (i.e. mother’s education, mothers’ teaching of reading and shared reading
with mother) predict membership in the identified groups in kindergarten? (e) To what extent do
child-related and family-related factors predict transitions from one group to another, i.e. children’s
developmental patterns?
Method
Participants and procedure
This study is part of an extensive follow-up study, which followed approximately 2000 children from the
beginning of kindergarten to the end of fourth grade. The sample is drawn from four municipalities in
different parts of Finland; in three municipalities, the entire age cohort participated, and in the fourth
municipality, the participating children comprised approximately half of the age cohort. From these
four municipalities one was a big city, two were medium size towns and one was a rural area, all with
average education level according to Finnish statistics (Statistics Finland, 2007). Parents were asked to
give their written consent for their child’s and their own participation in the study.
The participants in the present study represent a subsample of the original sample (N = 2000),
and data are included for 606 children (263 girls, 343 boys). The children were 5–6 years old at the
beginning of the follow-up (beginning of kindergarten, T0; mean age 74 months). This subsample
was followed in a more detailed way than the whole sample. Because the whole sample of 2000
children includes children at risk for reading disabilities, the sample of the present study also con-
tained both students at risk (47.2%) and students not at risk (52.8%; see the detailed description of
criteria for RD risk in the Measures section). The selection of the target sample was carried out in
a stratified fashion based on the results of the kindergarten measurements, the purpose being to
obtain from one to six (typically two or three) children from each classroom for the more intensive
follow-up. From one to five of the potential maximum of six children were from the at-risk group
(depending on the number of at-risk children in the classroom in each case) and the remainder
from the no-risk group.
In the present study, four measurement points were included: kindergarten spring (April, T1), Grade
1 fall (September, T2), Grade 1 spring (April, T3) and Grade 2 spring (April, T4).
Measures
Mothers were asked to complete a questionnaire concerning their educational level, teaching of reading
and shared reading at home in the spring of their child’s kindergarten year (T1). The children’s reading
status was assessed at kindergarten spring (T1) and their interest, self-concept and word reading skill
were assessed at each measurement point.
Interest in reading (T1–T4)

Children’s interest in reading was assessed in an interview using the Task Value Scale for Children (TVS-
C; Nurmi & Aunola, 1999; see also Aunola, Leskinen, & Nurmi, 2006; Lerkkanen et al., 2012; Nurmi &
Aunola, 2005; Viljaranta et al., 2014). This scale is based on the ideas presented by Eccles et al. (1983)
concerning the interest value. The scale consists of three items that measure children’s interest in (liking
of ) reading-related tasks (e.g. ‘How much do you like letter and reading tasks?’). All the questions were
read aloud to the children. The children were asked to indicate, by pointing to one of five illustrated
faces ranging from a big frown to a big smile, which best described their interest in particular reading
tasks (1 = I do not like it at all/I dislike doing those tasks; 5 = I like it very much/I really enjoy doing those
tasks). The Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficients for Interest in Reading were .63 at Time 1, .72 at Time
2, .77 at Time 3 and .80 at Time 4.
Self-concept of ability in reading (T1–T4)

Children’s self-concept of ability in literacy was measured during an interview using the Self-Concept
of Ability Scale (Nicholls, 1978; for validity, see also Aunola et al., 2002; Nurmi & Aunola, 2005). On this
test, the children were presented a sheet of paper that showed 10 pearls in a line from the top to the
bottom of the page. A careful instruction was given to the children so that they would understand the
instructions properly. A rating scale was also practiced together and made sure that a child understood
the scale. The children were told that the pearls represented children the same age and that the one
at the top of the page represented the child who was best at a certain subject, who was in the middle,
and so on down to the poorest performer. Children’s self-concept of ability in reading and writing was
measured by using the following instruction: ‘You should think how good or poor you are at reading
and letter tasks. How do you feel? Are you, in your class, the most skillful, somewhere up here, or are
you down here, the least skilled in literacy, or are you somewhere here at the middle? Where are you?’
The participants responded by pointing to one of the pearls.
Word-reading skill
Children’s word reading in kindergarten were assessed in an individual testing situation with a trained
researcher with a word list reading test containing 10 words without a time limit (subtest of the ARMI;
Lerkkanen, Poikkeus, & Ketonen, 2006) and in Grades 1 and 2 with a word list reading test that had a
time limit of 45 s (Lukilasse Graded Fluency Test; Häyrinen, Serenius-Sirve, & Korkman, 1999). In the
word list reading test used in kindergarten, the 10 words consisted of two syllables (seven words), three
syllables (two words) and five syllables (one word). The sum score of the correct answers was calculated.
The time-limited word list reading test in Grades 1 and 2 consisted of 90 Finnish words ranging from
vowel consonant vowel to multisyllabic word forms. Scoring was based on the total number of words
read aloud correctly within 45 s. The Kuder–Richardson reliabilities for the word reading skill were .97,
.97, .96 and .95, respectively.
RD risk
Children’s RD risk (for details, see Lerkkanen, Ahonen, & Poikkeus, 2011) was determined based on the
children’s score for letter knowledge and phonemic awareness (ARMI test battery; Lerkkanen et al.,
2006), and rapid automatised naming (RAN; Denckla & Rudel, 1976) in kindergarten and information
on parents’ self-reported reading difficulties (i.e. the mother or father indicated on a questionnaire
whether she or he had had ‘mild’ or ‘severe’ problems in reading at school age). These variables were
suggested by meta-analyses and familial dyslexia follow-up studies (e.g. Lyytinen et al., 2006; Snowling,
Gallagher, & Frith, 2003).
Letter knowledge The children named all 29 letters in the Finnish language, which were arranged randomly
in three rows (the ARMI test battery; Lerkkanen et al., 2006). The children named the letters, one row at a time,
while the other rows were covered. The score was the number of correctly named letters (max = 29). The Kuder–
Richardson reliability coefficient in our sample was .94.
Phonological awareness was assessed with the initial phoneme identification test from the ARMI
test battery (Lerkkanen et al., 2006) was used to assess phonological awareness. The children viewed
a row of four pictures of objects, which the experimenter named. The experimenter then asked, ‘At
the beginning of which word do you hear the sound /?/’, and the children had to point out the correct
picture. All sounds were single phonemes. The children’s score was the number of correct responses
(max = 10). The Kuder–Richardson reliability coefficient was .76.
RAN was assessed in kindergarten using the standard procedure (Denckla & Rudel, 1976) in which
children are asked to name as fast as possible a series of five pictures of objects arranged in semi-ran-
dom order in five rows of 10. A practice trial preceded the test to ensure that each child was familiar
with the objects. The total time to name all stimuli served as the children’s scores. Only a few errors
occurred and for this reason they were not considered further. The split-half reliability coefficient in
our sample was .80.
These variables were suggested by meta-analyses and familial dyslexia follow-up studies (e.g.
Lyytinen et al., 2006; Snowling et al., 2003). A child was identified as being at risk for RD if his or her score
was at or below the 15th percentile in at least two of the measured skills areas (i.e. letter knowledge,
phonemic awareness and rapid automatised naming) or if the child scored at or below the 15th per-
centile in one of the measures and the parental questionnaire indicated family risk (see also Lerkkanen
et al., 2011; Lyytinen et al., 2006).
Early reader
Children’s reading status at the end of kindergarten was assessed by using an individually administered
word list test of 10 words (subtest of the ARMI; Lerkkanen et al., 2006). The words consisted of two
syllables (seven words), three syllables (two words) and five syllables (one word). The raw sum score of
the correct items was used. Children who read at least nine words accurately were classified as ‘early
readers’ and all the other children as nonreaders. The Kuder–Richardson reliability was .90.
Mother’s education
Mother’s education was indexed on a 4-point scale: 1 = no occupational education or only short courses
(9 years of comprehensive school education), 2 = secondary school or vocational school degree (12 years
of education), 3 = polytechnic or bachelor’s degree (BA degree), 4 = university degree (MA degree) or
licentiate or doctoral degree.
Home literacy environment in kindergarten

To measure the home literacy environment, we used questions previously used by Sénéchal et al.
(1998). Other studies have used similar measures (e.g. Foy & Mann, 2003; Leppänen et al., 2004; Silinskas
et al., 2010). Mothers’ shared reading with their child was measured by asking mothers to answer the
following question on a 5-point scale (1 = less than once a week; 5 = more than once a day): ‘How often
do you read books to or together with your child?’ For the analyses, the scale was recoded using only
three values: 1 = max. 3 times a week; 2 = 4–6 times a week; 3 = at least once a day.
Teaching of reading was also assessed with one question, ‘How often do you teach or have previously
taught your child to read?’, using a 5-point scale (1 = not at all/very rarely; to 5 = very often/daily). For the
analyses, the scale was recoded with three values: 1 = seldom or never, 2 = sometimes, 3 = often or daily.
Analytical strategy
Latent profile analysis (LPA) was used to identify the groups (Muthén & Asparouhov, 2006; Vermunt &
Magidson, 2002). Because we were interested in studying the development of individual patterns across
time (for a similar perspective, see Nurmi & Aunola, 2005), we used the I-States as Objects-Analyses
(ISOA) procedure to analyse our data (Bergman & El-Khouri, 1999; Bergman et al., 2003). The benefits of
this person-oriented ISOA procedure in the analyses of longitudinal data are as follows: (a) it provides a
method for identifying groups of participants at different measurement points by using the same crite-
ria; (b) it provides a tool for examining the percentages of participants that belong to different groups,
and how these percentages change over time and (c) it provides an opportunity to examine changes
in group memberships over time. Following the key ideas of the ISOA, the data were first reorganised
so that the values for individual participants regarding the criteria variables at the four measurement
points became independent cases in the latent profile analysis. For example, the values of a variable V
for a participant at time points T1, T2, T3 and T4 became values V1, V2, V3 and V4. After conducting the
latent profile analyses, the cluster/group membership was saved and the data were organised once
again as the values of measurements T1, T2, T3 and T4.
The latent profile analyses using the Mplus programme (Muthén & Muthén, 1998–2012) were carried
out in the following steps. First, interest, self-concept of ability, and word reading skill variables were
standardised according to the means and standard deviations of the representative sample. Then, latent
profile analyses were fitted with different numbers of groups (each measurement point was treated as
a separate case). Interest, self-concept of ability and word reading skill were allowed to correlate, but
the covariance structure was assumed to be equal across latent groups. Full information maximum like-
lihood estimation was used with standard errors that are robust against nonnormal distribution (MLR;
Muthén & Muthén, 1998–2012). The final number of developmental patterns (subgroups) was selected
based on the following criteria: (a) the fit of the model; (b) distinguishability of the latent groups, which
was evaluated with average latent class posterior probabilities; (c) latent class sizes large enough to be
generalisable across the general population and (d) the practical usefulness, theoretical justification and
interpretability of the latent groups (see also Bauer & Curran, 2004; Muthén, 2003). The fit of the model
was evaluated according to five criteria: (a) the Bayesian information criterion (BIC), (b) the adjusted
Bayesian information criterion (aBIC), (c) Akaike’s information criterion (AIC), (d) the Lo–Mendell–Rubin
adjusted likelihood ratio test (aLRT) and (e) the Vuong–Lo–Mendell–Rubin likelihood ratio (WLMR) test.
Lower values for the information criteria indicate a better model fit, and significant aLRT and WLMR test
results indicate a higher number of subtypes. Finally, we used subgroup membership as a variable in
subsequent analyses. To investigate antecedents predicting subgroup membership, we organised the
data so that the data for each child at the first, second, third and fourth time points were again handled
as four successive measurements of the same individual.
Then we examined the stability and typical and atypical changes in group membership from the
beginning of the follow-up period (kindergarten) to the end of the follow-up period (Grade 2) with
cross-tabulation. Next, we used cross-tabulation to examine whether child- and family-related fac-
tors (i.e. gender, RD risk, being an early reader, mother’s education, mother’s teaching of reading, and
shared reading of the mother with child) were associated with subgroup membership at the beginning
of the follow-up (T1, spring of kindergarten). Finally, we used cross-tabulation to predict changes in
group membership from one latent group to another by using child- and family-related factors as the
predictor variables.
Results
Identification of groups
Our first aim was to investigate what kinds of groups of children can be identified based on children’s
reading-related interest, self-concept of ability and word reading skill. The goodness-of-fit indices of
the latent profile analyses, particularly the BIC index and the aLRT and WLMR tests, suggested that
the six-group solution fitted the data best (see Table 1). The average individual posterior probabilities
for being assigned to a specific latent class in the six-class model were .79, .74, .89, .83, .85 and .80,
which are greater than .70 and thus indicate a moderately clear classification (Nagin, 2005). Based on
the patterns and mean differences, these six subgroups (see Figure 1 and Table 2) were labelled: (a)
Average (59.1%); (b) High skills, positive self-concept and high interest (15.9%); (c) Positive self-concept
but low interest (12.0%); (d) Low skills, negative self-concept and low interest (5.7%); (e) High skills but
low interest (4.1%) and (f ) Low skills, negative self-concept but high interest (3.2%). Two groups of
children showed high levels of word reading skill but differed in their levels of interest: The High skills,
positive self-concept and high interest group was typified by an average level of interest in reading,
whereas the High skills but low interest group showed a low level of interest. The High skills, positive
self-concept and high interest group also showed somewhat higher levels of self-concept of ability
compared to the average level of self-concept of ability typical of the children in the High skills but
low interest group. Furthermore, two groups who showed a somewhat average word reading skill level
were detected. These groups differed particularly in interest in reading. The Positive self-concept but
low interest group showed a low level of interest in reading, whereas the Average group showed an
average level of interest. Finally, the two remaining groups showed low word reading skill levels but
differed regarding their levels of self-concept of ability and interest. The Low skills, negative self-con-
cept, but high interest group showed a higher level of interest compared to the Low skills, negative
self-concept and low interest group.
Table 1. Fit indices and class frequencies of latent profile analyses of different numbers of developmental profiles of interest,
self-concept of ability and academic performance.
p-value of p-value
No. of groups BIC aBIC AIC aLRT VLMR
1 (N = 2310) 19337.01 19308.42 19285.30
2 (n1 = 1838, n2 = 472) 19018.89 18977.54 18944.16 .00 .00
3 (n1 = 1630, n2 = 212, n3 = 468) 18771.56 18717.55 18673.89 .00 .00
4 (n1 = 1427, n2 = 439, n3 = 239, n4 = 205) 18656.94 18590.22 18536.29 .00 .00
5 (n1 = 1410, n2 = 415, n3 = 272, n4 = 140, n5 = 73) 18585.51 18506.08 18441.89 .00 .00
6 (n1 = 1365, n2 = 368, n3 = 277, n4 = 132, n5 = 94, n6 18531.04 18438.90 18364.43 .00 .00
= 74)
7 (n1 = 1173, n2 = 540, n3 = 296, n4 = 183, n5 = 72, 18402.99 18298.15 18213.41 .30 .29
n6 = 26, n7 = 20)
Note: BIC = Bayesian information criterion; aBIC = adjusted Bayesian information criterion; AIC = Akaike’s information criterion;
aLRT = Lo–Mendell–Rubin adjusted likelihood ratio test; VLMR = Vuong–Lo–Mendell–Rubin likelihood ratio test.
Figure 1. Developmental profiles of children’s reading-related interest, self-concept of ability and reading skills.
Stability and change in latent groups across the follow-up period from kindergarten to
second grade
Our second and third aims were to investigate different aspects of stability and change in latent groups
across the follow-up period. Figure 2 shows the proportions of individuals in the subgroups at T1 and
T4. Across the measurement points, the Average group was the largest group. The High skills but low
interest group and the Low skills, negative self-concept but high interest groups were the smallest
groups across all four measurement points.
Next, we used cross-tabulation with standardised residuals to examine the stability of the subgroup
membership, and typical and atypical transitions from one group to another between kindergarten
and second grade (i.e. between T1 and T4). The results showed that children typically stayed in the
same latent group from kindergarten to the second grade in three out of the six latent groups [χ2 (25,
N = 559) = 121.33, p < .001]: (a) Average group (adj. res. = 4.7); (b) High skills, positive self-concept and
high interest group (adj. res. = 6.0) and (c) Low skills, negative self-concept and low interest group (adj.
res. = 2.4). In turn, a statistically significant tendency to remain in the same group across time was not
detected for the other groups. Also typical and atypical transitions between groups were detected (see
Figure 2 for typical transitions).
The results showed that the most typical transitions between the groups were mainly characterised
by changes in reading interest and self-concept of ability. First, children in the Low skills, negative
self-concept but high interest group in kindergarten were likely to transition to the Low skills, negative
self-concept and low interest group (negative transition, that is, decrease regarding interest; N = 3,
adj. res. 2.0). Second, for high-achieving children, two kinds of transitions were typical: from the High
skills but low interest group to the High skills, positive self-concept and high interest group (positive
transition, that is, increase regarding interest; N = 8, adj. res. 2.8) and from the High skills, positive
self-concept and high interest group to the High skills but low interest group (negative transition
regarding interest; N = 8, adj. res. 2.3). Third, for children initially attributed to the Positive self-concept
but low interest group, two typical transitions were detected: These children were likely to move either
to the Low skills, negative self-concept but high interest group (negative transition regarding skills and
10
J. Viljaranta et al.
Table 2. Means and standard deviations of standardised interest, self-concept of ability and skills as a function of latent group membership and the results of the univariate analysis of variance (1-ANOVA)
of mean differences between different latent groups (N = 2310).
Low skills, nega- High skills, posi- Low skills, nega- Positive self-con-
tive self-concept High skills but tive self-concept tive self-concept cept but low
but high interest low interest Average and high interest and low interest interest
(3.2%, n = 74) (4.1%, n = 94) (59.1%, n = (15.9%, n = 368) (5.7%, n = 132) (12.0%, n = 277)
1365)
Partial
Groups M SD M SD M SD M SD M SD M SD F df1 df2 η2
Self-concept –2.32a .43 0.28bc .90 0.12c .74 0.52b .71 –2.06d .55 0.24c .71 422.21*** 5 2306 .48
of ability
Reading skills –0.66a .69 1.48b .50 –0.35c .59 1.62b .57 –0.75a .66 –0.40c .61 845.21*** 5 2298 .65
Interest 0.31a .59 –1.28b .54 0.42a .61 0.46a .58 –1.56c .59 –1.58c .55 840.21*** 5 2309 .65
Note: Means within a row sharing the same superscripts are not significantly different at the level of p < .05.
***
p < .001
Figure 2. Developmental profile membership in kindergarten and second grade, and the transitions from T1 to T4. Statistically
significant (p < .05) typical transitions are illustrated with solid-line arrows.
self-concept but positive regarding interest; N = 6, adj. res. 5.0) or to the Low skills, negative self-concept
and low interest group (negative transition regarding skills and self-concept, N = 5, adj. res. 2.0). Only
one typical transition included positive change in word reading skill. Children in the Low skills, negative
self-concept and low interest group were likely to make transition to the Positive self-concept but low
interest group (positive transition regarding self-concept and skills; N = 11, adj. res. 4.2).
Finally, for atypical transitions from one group to another in the period from kindergarten to the
second grade (Figure 2) the results showed that it was unlikely that children would move from the
Average group to the High skills, positive self-concept and high interest group. It was also atypical to
move from the High skills, positive self-concept and high interest group to either the Average group
or the Low skills, negative self-concept and low interest group. Similarly, transitions from the Low skills,
negative self-concept and low interest group to the Average group and from the Positive self-concept
but low interest group to the Average group were unlikely to occur.
Group membership and child- and family-related factors

Our fourth aim was to examine the extent to which the children in the six groups in kindergarten dif-
fered according to different background factors (see Table 3 for descriptive information and χ2-tests for
cross-tabulations). The results showed first that girls were overrepresented in the High skills, positive
self-concept and high interest group (adj. res. = 6.0), while boys were overrepresented in the Average
group (adj. res. = 2.1) as well as in the Positive self-concept but low interest group (adj. res. = 3.1).
Second, the results for children’s initial skill-related factors showed that children with no RD risk
were overrepresented in the High skills but low interest group (adj. res. = 4.9) and in the High skills,
positive self-concept and high interest group (adj. res. = 8.1) in kindergarten spring, and early readers
were overrepresented in these same groups (adj. res. = 9.2 in the High skills but low interest group, adj.
res. = 19.5 in the High skills, positive self-concept and high interest group). In turn, children with RD
risk and nonreaders in kindergarten were overrepresented in all other groups, that is, in the Low skills,
negative self-concept but high interest group (adj. res. = 3.5; adj. res. = 2.5), in the Average group (adj.
res. = 3.9; adj. res. = 14.9), in the Low skills, negative self-concept and low interest group (adj. res. = 4.2;
adj. res. = 2.8), and in the Positive self-concept but low interest group (adj. res. = 2.3 for children with
RD risk; adj.res = ns. for nonreaders in kindergarten).
Third, family-related factors were related to group membership. Children of mothers who did not
have any post-compulsory education were overrepresented in the Low skills, negative self-concept and
low interest group in kindergarten spring (adj. res. = 2.2). Children of mothers who had a secondary
school diploma were overrepresented in the Average group (adj. res. = 4.0) and underrepresented in
Table 3. Descriptive information of latent groups in regard to background factors at the beginning of follow-up (T1, kindergarten,
spring).
Low skills, High skills, Low skills, Positive

negative positive negative self-con-
self-concept High skills self-concept self-concept cept
but high but low and high and low but low
interest interest Average interest interest interest
n = 23 n = 30 n = 359 n = 108 n = 31 n = 55
Groups (3.8%) (5.0%) (59.2%) (17.8%) (5.1%) (9.1%)
Variable χ2-tests for
name cross-tabulations
Gender: χ2 (5, N = 606) =
43.03, p < .001
Girls 10 (43.5%) 13 (43.3%) 143 75 (69.4%) 9 (29.0%) 13 (23.6%)

(39.8%)
Boys 13 (56.5%) 17 (56.7%) 216 33 (30.6%) 22 (71.0%) 42 (76.4%)
(60.2%)
Risk for χ2 (5, N = 606) =
reading dis- 115.96, p < .001
abilities:
No risk 4 (17.4%) 29 (96.7%) 166 95 (88.0%) 5 (16.1%) 21 (38.2%)
(46.2%)
Risk 19 (82.6%) 1 (3.3%) 193 13 (12.0%) 26 (83.9%) 34 (61.8%)
(53.8%)
Reading χ2 (5, N = 598) =
status: 541.97, p < .001
Early reader 0 (0%) 26 (86.7%) 0 (0%) 96 (88.9%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%)
Nonreader 23 (100%) 4 (13.3%) 353 12 (11.1%) 29 (100%) 55 (100%)
(100%)
Mother’s χ2 (15, N = 524) =
education: 43.94, p < .001
No educa- 2 (11.1%) 2 (7.4%) 25 10 (9.9%) 5 (21.7%) 2 (4.1%)
tion (8.2%)
Secondary 9 (50.0%) 12 (44.4%) 200 41 (40.6%) 13 (56.5%) 29 (59.2%)
school (65.4%)
degree
Polytechnics/ 3 (16.7%) 0 (0%) 31 13 (12.9%) 2 (8.7%) 8 (16.3%)
bachelor (10.1%)
Master/ 4 (22.2%) 13 (48.1%) 50 37 (36.6%) 3 (13.0%) 10 (20.4%)
higher (16.3%)
Teaching of χ2 (10, N = 529) =
reading: 39.99, p < .001
Seldom/ 16 (84.2%) 13 (48.1%) 222 50 (49.5%) 15 (68.2%) 39 (79.6%)
never (71.4%)
Sometimes 3 (15.8%) 8 (29.6%) 74 34 (33.7%) 4 (18.2%) 5 (10.2%)
(23.8%)
Often/daily 0 (0.0%) 6 (22.2%) 15 17 (16.8%) 3 (13.2%) 5 (10.2%)
(4.8%)
Shared χ2 (10, N = 526) =
reading: 13.78, p = .18
Max. 3 times 9 (47.4%) 7 (25.9%) 125 42 (41.6%) 10 (43.5%) 24 (50.0%)
a week (40.6%)
4–6 times a 3 (15.8%) 6 (22.2%) 82 16 (15.8%) 6 (26.1%) 6 (12.5%)
week (26.6%)
At least once 7 (36.8%) 14 (51.9%) 101 43 (42.6%) 7 (30.4%) 18 (37.5%)
a day (32.8%)
the High skills, positive self-concept and high interest group (adj. res. = −3.9). Finally, children whose
mothers reported having a university degree were overrepresented in the High skills but low interest
group (adj. res. = 3.3) as well as in the High skills, positive self-concept and high interest group (adj. res.
= 3.8) and underrepresented in the Average group (adj. res. = −3.9).
The results showed further that children whose mothers taught them reading seldom or never
were overrepresented in the Average group (adj. res. = 2.5) and in the Positive self-concept but low
interest group (adj. res. = 2.0) in kindergarten spring, and underrepresented in the High skills but low
interest group (adj. res. = −2.2) and in the High skills, positive self-concept and high interest group (adj.
res. = −4.2). In turn, children whose mothers taught them reading sometimes were overrepresented in
the High skills, positive self-concept and high interest group (adj. res. = 2.5) and underrepresented in
the Positive self-concept but low interest group (adj. res. = −2.4). Finally, children whose mothers taught
them reading often or daily were overrepresented in the High skills but low interest group (adj. res. =
2.6) and in the High skills, positive self-concept and high interest group (adj. res. = 3.2), and underrep-
resented in the Average group (adj. res. = −3.8).
The results concerning shared reading of the mother with her child and children’s group member-
ship showed that children whose mothers read with them 4 to 6 times a week were overrepresented
in the Average group (adj. res. = 2.6) in kindergarten spring. However, the χ2 test, which indicated an
overall association between shared reading and group membership, was not statistically significant.
Predicting transitions between developmental patterns by background factors

Our final aim was to examine whether child- and family-related factors are related to transitions from
one latent group to another. Since some of the typical transitions reflected a similar kind of phenomena
(such as an increase or decrease in relation to interest), we merged the same kind of typical transitions
for further analyses so that we eventually arrived at five different types of transitions that could be
predicted: (a) transitions typified by a positive transition regarding interest (i.e. increase in interest; a
transition from the High skills but low interest group to the High skills, positive self-concept, and high
interest group, and from the Positive self-concept but low interest group to the Low skills, negative
self-concept, but high interest group); (b) transitions typified by a negative transition regarding interest
(i.e. decrease in interest; a transition from the High skills, positive self-concept, and high interest group
to the High skills but low interest group, and from the Low skills, negative self-concept but high inter-
est group to the Low skills, negative self-concept, and low interest group); (c) transitions typified by a
negative transition regarding self-concept of ability and skills (i.e. decrease in self-concept of ability
and skills; a transition from the Positive self-concept but low interest group to the Low skills, negative
self-concept but high interest group, and from the Positive self-concept but low interest group to the
Low skills, negative self-concept, and low interest group) and (d) transitions typified by a positive tran-
sition regarding self-concept and skills (i.e. increase in self-concept and skills; a transition from the Low
skills, negative self-concept, and low interest group to the Positive self-concept but low interest group).
The results showed, first, that children’s RD risk [χ2 (1, N = 43) = 5.66, p < .05] and having the status of
nonreader [χ2 (1, N = 43) = 8.80, p < .01] were associated with a negative transition regarding interest (i.e.
decrease in interest), (adj. res. = 2.4 for RD risk, 3.0 for nonreader status). In turn, being an early reader
in kindergarten was associated with a positive transition regarding interest (i.e. increase in interest) [χ2
(1, N = 22) = 7.18, p < .01] (adj. res. = 2.7). In addition, all the children who made negative transitions
regarding self-concept of ability and skills were boys and all the children who made negative transitions
regarding self-concept of ability and skills or who made positive transitions regarding both self-concept
of ability and skills were nonreaders at the end of the kindergarten year.
Furthermore, the results showed that mothers’ education was associated with negative transitioning
regarding interest [χ2 (3, N = 41) = 16.01, p < .01], so that this negative transition regarding interest was
likely to happen to those children whose mothers did not have any postcompulsory education (adj. res.
= 3.5); furthermore, this type of negative transition was unlikely to occur among those children whose
mothers had a university degree (adj. res. = −2.6). Mothers’ education was also associated with positive
transitioning regarding interest [χ2 (3, N = 20) = 5.24, p = ns], so that this type of positive transition was
unlikely to occur among children whose mothers had a polytechnic or bachelor’s degree (adj. res. = −2.0).
Finally, the results showed that shared reading or teaching of reading at home were not statistically
significantly associated with any of the typical transitions.
Discussion
Following the notion that a person-oriented approach may provide a complementary understanding of
the associations between variables (Bergman et al., 2003), the present study used this methodological
framework to examine what kinds of groups of children can be identified regarding their combina-
tions of reading-related interest, self-concept of ability and word reading skill in the beginning of their
school career.
Patterns of skills, self-concept of ability and interest

Person-oriented analyses identified six groups of children with different combinations of skills, self-con-
cept of ability and interest. The groups were labelled Low skills, negative self-concept but high interest;
High skills but low interest; Average; High skills, positive self-concept, and high interest; Low skills,
negative self-concept, and low interest; and Positive self-concept but low interest. Overall, the results
from the person-oriented analysis broaden our understanding of the associations among self-concept
of ability, interest and skill in word reading by showing that the patterns of the values of these variables
are not similar among all children. The majority of previous variable-oriented research has provided
support for the proposition that students who have a positive self-concept of their ability and who
are interested in academic tasks perform better and are more adaptively engaged in those tasks than
students with negative self-perceptions and a low level of interest (e.g. Eccles et al., 1983; Pintrich &
Schunk, 2008; Wigfield, 1997). However, not all studies found this pattern (e.g. Skaalvik & Valas, 1999;
Renninger, Ewen, & Lasher, 2002). In our person-oriented study, only three of the identified groups were
in accordance with previous findings that used a variable-oriented approach: the High skills, positive
self-concept and high interest group; the Low skills, negative self-concept, and low interest group; and
the Average group.
In addition, we identified three groups of children that show that there actually are different kinds
of constellations of skills, interest and self-concept of ability that are hidden behind the general trend
shown in previous empirical findings based on variable-oriented approach. These nonlinear groups were
identified particularly regarding interest in reading, namely, the High skills but low interest group and
the Low skills, negative self-concept but high interest group. These findings suggest that groups that
show a similar skill level can be different particularly regarding their reading interest. We also identified
a group of Positive self-concept of ability but low interest.
There are several possible reasons for these nonlinear motivational patterns. For example, some
children characterised by high levels of skills and self-concepts may find reading-related school tasks
too easy and, therefore, do not find them as interesting. Since in the Finnish language the decoding skill
forms the basis for further reading skills, reading instructions are heavily based on decoding during the
very beginning of schooling (Lerkkanen, 2007). Therefore, children with high skill levels might benefit
from different kinds of instructions (see also Connor, Morrison, & Katch, 2004). Another possible reason
for the fact that we identified a group of children who showed low levels of skills and self-concepts but
still liked reading could be that these children might get extensive support for their reading-related
activities, such as support from class teacher during normal literacy lessons but also part-time special
education support if needed at school. Such support, particularly, when given in a warm and respective
atmosphere, may then enhance children’s liking and enjoyment of these tasks (Lerkkanen et al., 2012;
Perry, Donohue, & Weinstein, 2007).
Predicting group membership

To better understand the development of different combinations of word reading skill, self-concept
and interest, we examined what child- and family-related factors predict membership in the different
groups. An interesting finding concerning gender was that boys were overrepresented in the Positive
self-concept but low interest group. Previous research has shown that girls typically have both higher
levels of interest and a stronger self-concept of ability when it comes to reading (Eccles et al., 1993;
Fredricks & Eccles, 2002; Marsh & Yeung, 1998; Wigfield et al., 1997). This result indicates once more
that it is important to examine the different combinations of motivation variables. Our results showed
further that boys were overrepresented in the Average group, which could suggest that boys’ situation
may not be as bad as it may sound at first based on earlier variable-oriented results. However, even
though we did not find statistically significant gender differences in the most negative developmental
patterns, there were substantially more boys than girls in the most negative group, that is, in the Low
skills, negative self-concept and low interest group. As an opposite, there were substantially fewer boys
than girls in the most positive group, that is, the High skills, positive self-concept and high interest
group. Therefore, it seems that our results concerning the gender differences are in line with previous
variable-oriented findings, but in future these differences should be examined with bigger samples in
order to get enough statistical power to the analyses.
Most of our results concerning children with RD risk and early readers were as expected, for example,
children with RD risk were overrepresented and early readers underrepresented in the groups typified by
a low level of skills and self-concept. The results showed, further, that early readers were overrepresented
in those groups that were typified by high skill level, also in the High skills but low interest group. This
is an interesting finding, because previous literature has shown that interest in reading and reading
skills are related to each other (Gottfried, 1990; Wigfield, 1997). These early readers who belong to the
High skills but low interest group might feel frustrated, since they are already able to decode and early
reading instruction is heavily focused on decoding.
Regarding mothers’ educational level, our study adds to the previous literature in an important way
by showing that the association between mothers’ education and children’s motivational patterns is
not the same for all children. For example, children in the both High skills but low interest group and
those in High skills, positive self-concept and high interest group came from families in which mothers
had a university degree. In other words, although good socio-economic standing seems to form a basis
for positive skill development it does not always lead to high motivation.
The results also showed that mothers’ teaching their children to read during the kindergarten pre-
dicted children’s group membership. The results showed, first, that those children whose mothers taught
them reading seldom or never were underrepresented in the High skills but low interest group or in the
High skills, positive self-concept and high interest group, and overrepresented in the Average group or in
the Positive self-concept but low interest group. In addition, children whose mothers taught them read-
ing often or daily were overrepresented in the High skills but low interest group and in the High skills,
positive self-concept and high interest group, and underrepresented in the Average group. Altogether,
these results are in line with previous studies showing that teaching children to read before their
formal education starts is related to such children showing more advanced reading skills (e.g. Evans
et al., 2000; Frijters et al., 2000; Sénéchal & LeFevre, 2002; Sénéchal et al., 1998; Silinskas et al., 2010).
Interestingly, our results also indicate that mothers’ teaching of reading does not necessarily affect
children’s interest in literacy.
Stability and changes in groups and predictors of transitions between groups

Our next aim was to investigate the stability and change in children’s different developmental patterns.
The results showed that children who showed positive developmental patterns tend to stay on the same
developmental track across several years, whereas those who showed a negative pattern tend to stay on
the same developmental track later on. These results are in accordance with previous variable-oriented
research showing that, in addition to the development and differentiation of interest and self-concept
of ability starting at the very beginning of the school career (Eccles et al., 1993; Wigfield et al., 1997;
Bouffard, Marcoux, Vezeau, & Bordeleau, 2003; Marsh, Craven, & Debus, 1991; Spinath & Spinath, 2005),
such interindividual differences also become increasingly stable during the first school years (Aunola
et al., 2006; Gottfried, Fleming, & Gottfried, 2001). This is also true regarding the development of word
reading skill (Leppänen et al., 2004; Lerkkanen, Rasku-Puttonen, Aunola, & Nurmi, 2004). However,
despite a tendency towards stability, which was particularly evident in the linear patterns (consistently
high, average or low skills, interest and self-concept) changes were also observed in the patterns across
time. The most typically occurring transitions between groups were characterised by changes in either
reading-related interest or simultaneously in self-concept and skills. Previous research has shown that
the first school years are a time when children gain more experiences in school tasks and when their
perceptions of their abilities, for example, become more realistic (e.g. Aunola et al., 2002; Jacobs et al.,
2002). All this development could be seen in the transitions between groups typified by changes in
interest or self-concept and skills. It is also possible that these individuals’ associations between their
self-concept, interest and skills become stronger and more stable, and maybe also more consistent,
during the later years as they become more mature and have gained more experience in academic
environments (Eccles et al., 1998; Fredricks & Eccles, 2002; Jacobs et al., 2002; Wigfield et al., 1997).
However, our results also suggest that using person-oriented approach is an important way to find
these nonlinear patterns and the transitions between different patterns. After identifying them it is
possible to examine what would explain these transitions.
The results of the predictors of transitions between groups showed that transitioning to a group
with a lower interest in reading was likely to occur for children with RD risk. These children might have
gained more negative experiences and failures related to learning to read during the first few school
years, which then lead to a decrease in their interest in reading. Therefore, creating positive reading
experiences for these children in order to maintain and enhance their interest is important. In addition,
being an early reader in kindergarten was associated with a positive transition (i.e. increase) regarding
interest. Here the mechanism behind this phenomenon might be the same: good skills and positive
experiences in reading tasks, as well as positive feedback from those will probably lead to higher interest
in reading tasks, and, therefore, create a positive cumulative cycle.
The results also showed that all children who underwent a negative transition concerning self-con-
cept of ability and skills or who made a positive transition regarding their self-concept and skills had
been nonreaders at the end of the kindergarten year. These results could be related to two things: First,
the negative transition concerning self-concept of ability could be due to the importance placed on
learning to read at the beginning of the school career. In a learning environment with others, children
become well aware of their comparative skill level, and this might have the effect of thwarting the
nonreaders’ belief in their ability to learn to read even further. Second, learning to read in the Finnish
language, with its highly transparent orthography, is a relatively easy and fast process for most children.
This could explain why the positive transition regarding self-concept and skills also occurred among
nonreaders: These children learn to read fast, and this in turn rapidly boosts their self-concept of their
ability. In addition, all children who underwent a negative transition concerning self-concept of ability
and skills were boys. It is important to notice that these transitions were typified by a transition from
the group showing an average level of skills, somewhat positive level of self-concept and, most impor-
tantly, low level of interest. These results indicate that this low level of interest might have led to smaller
amount of reading and, therefore, to slower development of reading skills and decrease in the level
of self-concept. It is also possible that this result is actually related to differences in children’s ability to
comprehend the texts that are read: it is difficult to support or maintain interest in texts that are not
being comprehended. The result showing that this kind of transition happened only among boys is
in line with earlier results showing that girls typically outperform boys in reading skills (e.g. Halpern &
LaMay, 2000; Logan & Johnston, 2009) and that it might be due to boys’ lower motivation to reading
(e.g. Fredricks & Eccles, 2002; Wigfield et al., 1997).
Finally, the results showed that a negative transition concerning interest was likely to happen to
children whose mothers did not have any postcompulsory education. It might be that these mothers do
not know how to support their children with learning to read in a best possible way, which might lead to
decrease of children’s interest. Also more pressing issues such as more difficult financial situation might
lead parents to have fewer resources to focus on issues like children’s reading skills. Second, a positive
transition regarding interest was unlikely to occur among children whose mothers had a polytechnic
or bachelor’s degree. One possible reason for this finding could be that the level of interest reached
and maintained by the children of mothers who have a polytechnic or bachelor’s degree had already
reached its ceiling point in the interest measure used in the present study and therefore simply did not
have the potential to increase any further.
Limitations and future directions

The present study includes limitations that should be taken into account. First, the focus of the present
study is on word-level reading skill, which is crucial to be achieved during the first school years. It is
possible, however, that some aspects of motivation, such as interest towards reading, play a bigger role
in the development of reading fluency and comprehension. In the present study, however, we could
not assess reading comprehension before the end of Grades 1 and 2 (only in the two last measurement
points) and, consequently, we could not have meaningfully analysed reading comprehension develop-
ment throughout all the waves when were interested in students’ self-concept and interest. It therefore
remains as a challenge for future research to examine the developmental dynamics of self-concept,
interest and reading comprehension. Second, self-concept of ability was measured with only one item.
This may raise questions about the reliability and validity of the measure. Third, the reliability of interest
measure was relatively modest at Time 1. This might indicate that there were difficulties in capturing
interest with the scale. This might be one reason for finding some instabilities in certain motivational
patterns. Fourth, the measures of interest and self-concept of ability included scales from 1 to 5 or
from 1 to 10, which may not be an optimal scale for children at this age to understand properly and
this limitation should be kept in mind when interpreting the results of the present study. Fifth, in our
sample there is an overrepresentation of children with a risk for reading difficulties, which can be seen
as a limitation of our study, although this was taken into account in the statistical analyses. Finally, not
all of the mothers who were asked to participate in the study answered the questionnaire. Mothers
of higher-performing children answered the questionnaire with a higher probability than mothers of
lower-performing children.
Practical implications
The results have practical implications for teachers and other adults who work with children who are just
starting their schooling. First, the results indicate that it is important to be aware of the different kinds
of motivational patterns children show. Although the beginning of school has typically been thought
to be a positive phase in students’ school career, some children also show relatively negative patterns
regarding their word reading skill and/or motivation. Identifying these children is important to give
them special attention and support as early as possible. Second, even some students who have good
word reading skill can lack interest in reading practices. Enhancing these students’ motivation could
have a positive effect on their skill development later on, since interest in reading has previously been
reported to predict a subsequent improvement in reading skills not only at the beginning of school
but also in later elementary school grades (e.g. Ecalle et al., 2006; Gottfried, 1990; Wigfield, 1997). For
example, offering more challenging tasks where all the already achieved skills could be used optimally
might enhance interest among students who do not have problems in reading skills but show no interest
in reading. As a positive note, we identified a group of children who, despite their low level of skills and
negative self-concept of ability, still showed a high level of interest in reading.
General conclusion
Overall, our results broaden our understanding of the relations between word reading skill, self-concept
of ability and interest during the early years of children’s schooling. The results contribute to previous
research by showing that these relations are not the same for all children, and that nonlinear patterns of
children’s word reading skill, self-concept of ability and interest cannot be predicted based on previous
variable-oriented studies. This study, therefore, opens a door for further examination of the mechanisms
behind the phenomena found in this study.
Funding
This work was funded by a personal grant from the Finnish Cultural Foundation for Jaana Viljaranta, and by grants from
the Academy of Finland to the Finnish Centre of Excellence in Learning and Motivation Research (Nr. 213486), for Jaana
Viljaranta [grant number 265817], Kaisa Aunola [grant number 7119742], Noona Kiuru [grant number 7133146], Marja-
Kristiina Lerkkanen [grant number 125811].
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Educational Psychology

An International Journal of Experimental Educational Psychology

ISSN: 0144-3410 (Print) 1469-5820 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/cedp20

Patterns of word reading skill, interest and self-

Jaana Viljaranta, Noona Kiuru, Marja-Kristiina Lerkkanen, Gintautas

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Patterns of word reading skill, interest and self-concept of ability

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

CONTACT Jaana Viljaranta jaana.h.viljaranta@jyu.fi

Self-concept of ability and interest

Reading skills, self-concept of ability and interest

Child- and family-related antecedents

Interest in reading (T1–T4)

Self-concept of ability in reading (T1–T4)

Home literacy environment in kindergarten

Group membership and child- and family-related factors

Low skills, High skills, Low skills, Positive

Girls 10 (43.5%) 13 (43.3%) 143 75 (69.4%) 9 (29.0%) 13 (23.6%)

Predicting transitions between developmental patterns by background factors

Patterns of skills, self-concept of ability and interest

Predicting group membership

Stability and changes in groups and predictors of transitions between groups

Limitations and future directions

Demography, 37, 431–447. doi:10.1353/dem.2000.0005

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