Developmental dyslexia, a common learning disability affecting numerous children, has garnered increasing attention in recent years[32]. Recent studies showed that children with dyslexia are at risk of academic failure and emotional problems[33]. Therefore, investigating the factors that influence dyslexia may lead to mitigating the consequences of this prevalent disease. In the present study, we aim to examine the relationship between parenting styles and dyslexia among Chinese children, with a specific focus on the potential mediating role of HLE. Our findings indicate a strong correlation between dyslexia, HLE, and parenting styles. More importantly, HLE was found to have a complete mediation effect on the association between parenting styles and reading ability. This study builds upon previous research by introducing innovative models that connect parenting styles to dyslexia in children, thus offering valuable insights for future interventions and educational practices.
Our findings indicate that the absence of regular reading time and high homework pressure are risk factors for dyslexia. In line with previous research, our results highlight a significant association between dyslexia and HLE in children[29, 34]. Ensuring children have a designated reading time not only increases their overall reading exposure but also cultivates positive reading habits, thereby enhancing their vocabulary and reading skills. A longitudinal study spanning ages 2 to 15 found that the HLE positively impacts language and literacy development in preschoolers, leading to improved reading comprehension throughout childhood due to preschool-based skills and heightened motivation[11]. Several studies have also suggested that the relationship between HLE and children's reading ability may be reciprocal, with children's early reading ability influencing parental involvement in home literacy activities[34, 35]. However, a study from Japan did not find such results, but rather linked access to literacy resources to early reading development[36]. We posit that this disparity may be attributed to the temporal nature of HLE effects, which diminish as children receive formal literacy instruction. Nevertheless, it is indisputable that a favorable HLE offers numerous opportunities for educational activities that foster children's language and literacy skills.
On the other hand, consistent with our findings, there were pieces of evidence showing that a conscious learning habit had a significant impact on the occurrence of dyslexia[4]. Learning habit is an individual automatic learning behavior, conscious study habits are conducive to stimulate the enthusiasm and initiative of students to learn. Children with positive learning habits generally show positive learning attitudes in campus and home learning, and will actively and enthusiastically discuss with the teacher in the classroom or communicate with their classmates to learn after class, and express their views more actively, which greatly improves their language expression ability and expression opportunities. From this perspective, it can be explained that conscious and active learning habits can improve children's reading experience, which has an important impact on the acquisition of children's reading knowledge and skills, and thus reduces the risk of dyslexia[37]. In contrast, the presence of longer time and stressful difficulties in completing homework assignments in dyslexic children, in addition to a possible lack of conscious study habits, is more likely to be due to their poor reading skills related to difficulties in completing homework tasks[28] .
In recent years, there has been a growing focus on parenting styles in the research community, yet little attention has been paid to the relationship between dyslexia and parenting styles[8, 38]. Similar to prior researches[19, 39], our research has found a strong correlation between parenting style and dyslexia. In particular, negative correlations were observed with regard to parental emotional warmth, anxious rearing, and fathers' overprotection. These results may reflect apathetic and neglectful attitudes of parents towards dyslexic children and inadequate care for dyslexic children, which is a negative rearing style. Research has shown that parents who adopt a neglectful parenting style demand less from their children and communicate less with them[40]. We suggest that negative parenting styles may be due to the fact that the academic underachievement of dyslexic children affects parents' parenting satisfaction and sense of efficacy, which leaves most parents disillusioned and appearing less protective and anxious than parents of typically developing children[41]. This may also partly explain our results. Consistent with our findings, a Finnish study found that parents of dyslexic children have high parenting stress and struggle to provide effective help [18]. That is, more adaptive parenting styles promote a better performance when compared with less adaptive parenting styles. Previous studies have indicated that parenting styles play an important role in explaining higher reading processes (syntactic and semantic) in children with dyslexia, as supported by main theories on dyslexia[22]. Therefore, our results add to the growing body of evidence highlighting the impact of parenting styles on children with dyslexia.
In addition, we found that the relationship between boys' parenting style and dyslexia was more pronounced. To our knowledge, there is a general consensus among current researchers that boys are at a higher risk of developing dyslexia than girls[4, 33, 42]. In line with a prior study, the gender of children had an impact on parenting styles[15]. Boys are given more responsibility, and parents are harsher, more rejecting and neglectful of boys, especially fathers, who are more likely to be strict with boys in home education. However, parents are more willing to tolerate girls. Also, there are differences in the personalities of boys and girls; boys are active and disobedient, while girls are more obedient and well-behaved, so parents are harsher and prone to punishment and rejection of boys, and are more tolerant and provide emotional warmth to girl [43]. Thus, we should pay more attention to the way boys are parented, to be emotional warmth, tolerant and protective enough to help prevent dyslexia in boys.
Furthermore, our research has established that the HLE acts as an independent mediator between parenting styles and dyslexia. This means that positive parenting styles create a richer HLE, which in turn reduces the risk of dyslexia. Children's early language skills are developed through their interactions with their parents[44]. More specifically, parental attitudes towards reading seem to influence the development of children’s reading skills [10]. As numerous studies have shown, the actions and characteristics of both children and parents can shape family interactions[45]. Parents' behaviors and attitudes, along with family communications and interactions, contribute to increasing children's reading activities and create a positive HLE. The behavior of individual family members impacts all other members, making it essential to consider the family and the overall environment when examining a child's behavior[46]. Given this, interventions that focus on effective parent-child communication can be a crucial part of rehabilitation training for children with dyslexia. Moreover, this study will enhance our understanding of the impact of parenting styles on children's dyslexia. In general, based on the findings of the present study, improving parenting styles, enhancing family interaction, and creating a positive family reading atmosphere can be considered crucial strategies for reducing the risk of dyslexia. In summary, parenting styles can either positively or negatively influence dyslexia in children through HLE, making this the most innovative contribution of this study.
This study has several limitations that must be considered. Firstly, it is a case-control study, which limits the ability to establish causality. However, it provides valuable insights for future cohort or intervention studies seeking to verify these findings. Secondly, this study demonstrates that parenting styles impact children's reading ability through the home literacy environment. However, defining the specifics of a "good" home literacy environment and establishing the optimal level to prevent reading difficulties and improve reading challenges remains elusive. Thirdly, the evaluation of parenting styles was subjective and may be subject to recall bias. Additionally, there may be other factors not evaluated in this study that also influence the relationship between parenting styles and reading ability. Therefore, further research with a prospective design is needed to explore a broader range of potential mediators. To strengthen the generalizability of these findings, it is recommended to conduct future studies on samples from numerous regions to assess the reproducibility of these results.