Why learning disabilities often happen with ADHD and anxiety
Understanding comorbidity between specific learning disabilities and developmental psychopathology
This project looks at children and adults to understand why learning disabilities commonly appear alongside ADHD and anxiety.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Colorado NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Boulder, UNITED STATES) |
| Project ID | NIH-11145872 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
If you join, you'll come to the project's labs to complete reading, math, and writing tests plus a range of cognitive and attention tasks used to characterize learning problems. The team will enroll three groups: consecutive clinic referrals, a five-year follow-up of twins from the CLDRC, and a 25-year follow-up of a group first tested in preschool now at age 30. Parents and teachers will provide ratings of ADHD, sluggish cognitive tempo, anxiety, and functional impairment, and the study intentionally includes lower-income families and children with severe or multiple learning disorders. Combining clinic samples with twin and long-term follow-up data helps the researchers compare patterns that tend to co-occur across development.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal candidates are children referred for learning difficulties or attention problems, twins enrolled in the CLDRC follow-up, and adults from the preschool cohort now at age 30.
Not a fit: People without learning or attention concerns, those outside the study age ranges, or those unable to travel to required testing visits are unlikely to gain direct benefit from participating.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the work could help clinicians identify co-occurring learning and attention problems earlier and target supports more precisely.
How similar studies have performed: Previous research has shown overlap between learning disabilities and ADHD and twin studies have been informative, but this large combined clinic and long-term follow-up approach is less common.
Where this research is happening
Boulder, UNITED STATES
- University of Colorado — Boulder, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Willcutt, Erik G — University of Colorado
- Study coordinator: Willcutt, Erik G
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.