First Advisor

Athanasiou, Michelle

First Committee Member

Hynes, Keeley

Second Committee Member

Johnson, Brian

Third Committee Member

Zaghlawan, Hasan

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Document Type

Dissertation

Date Created

8-2025

Department

College of Education and Behavioral Sciences, School Psychology, School Psychology Student Work

Abstract

The current study is a formative evaluation of an intervention that combined reading instruction with exposure therapy strategies, with the goal of teaching avoidant readers how to engage with learning through their own volition. The purpose of the current study was to assess the potential efficacy of a reading intervention with an emotional-behavioral adaptation on reading and emotional-behavioral outcomes. Specifically, the researcher sought to determine whether the adapted intervention could improve readers’ reading achievement, reading self-efficacy, and reading-related emotions at a faster rate than treatment as usual. Additionally, teachers of the participating readers were surveyed for social validity purposes. The following research questions were used:

Q1 When a struggling and avoidant reader receives an intervention that targets their avoidance of reading, will the reader improve on measures of reading achievement at a faster rate compared to when they only receive their typical reading instruction?

Q2 When a struggling and avoidant reader receives an intervention that targets their avoidance of reading, will the reader’s ratings of reading self-efficacy and reading-related emotions improve at a faster rate compared to when they only receive their typical reading instruction?

Q3 To what extent will the teacher of a struggling and avoidant reader perceive an intervention that targets the avoidance of reading as beneficial to the reader?

An ABAB single case design was used in the current study. The baseline and reversal phases featured the participants’ typical reading instruction (“treatment as usual”), and the intervention phases additionally included the adapted intervention of the current study. Three elementary students from a rural school in the midwestern United States participated in the current study. All participants had documented reading difficulties, and their teachers reported that the participants displayed avoidant learning behaviors in the classroom. Positive reading achievement results were found for one out of the three participants. No clear improvements were found for the reading self-efficacy or reading-related emotions outcomes. Their teachers reported positive impressions of the adapted intervention, but they denied significant improvements in the participants’ reading achievement and avoidant learning behaviors. Future research should use a multiple-baseline design to evaluate the current study’s intervention, as an ABAB design was found to be insensitive to the dependent variables of reading achievement, reading self-efficacy, and reading-related emotions. Additionally, special care should be given to recruiting students whose predominant learning barriers are their avoidant behaviors, rather than underlying cognitive concerns.

Abstract Format

html

Places

Greeley, Colorado

Extent

191 pages

Local Identifiers

Frey_unco_0161D_11380.pdf

Rights Statement

Copyright is held by the author.

Digital Origin

Born digital

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