Evaluating a Concurrent Reading and Social-Emotional Skills Intervention for Second-Graders With Co-occurring Difficulties

Students with reading difficulties often simultaneously experience social-emotional difficulties. Although integrated interventions addressing both domains are recommended for such students, empirical evidence of their effectiveness remains scarce. A preregistered study was conducted, which evaluated a two-phase, multicomponent intervention for second-grade students with difficulties in both domains. The intervention combined phonics-based instruction with social-emotional learning (SEL) tailored to struggling readers. A total of 43 second-graders with low reading and low social-emotional skills were assigned to an intervention group ( n = 23) or a business as usual control group ( n = 20) using class-level randomization. The intervention was delivered in small groups, twice weekly over 40 sessions (50 min each). Reading (fluency, comprehension) and social-emotional outcomes (e.g., emotion regulation, internalizing/externalizing behavior) were assessed at four time points. Multilevel modeling (MLM) was used to analyze the data. Over time, all children significantly improved their reading skills, regardless of the group they were assigned to. No significant differences between the groups were found in either reading or social-emotional skills. However, a trend approaching statistical significance was observed for some social-emotional outcomes. The results emphasize the challenges of effectively addressing co-occurring difficulties. The study also shows the need for further research into the conditions that make such interventions more effective.