Post-test mediation analyses indicate word reading is related to rhythm (stress awareness and non-linguistic rhythm) through phonological awareness¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r2 · q3
Currency · newest study 2026 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? Post-test analyses of the whole sample found significant indirect effects of stress awareness on word reading through both phonological awareness measures, and of non-linguistic rhythm through the oddity measure; these effects were absent at pre-test. → Gutiérrez-Palma 2026

Evidence¶

Gutiérrez-Palma 2026¶

Gutiérrez-Palma, N., Calet, N., Robles-Bello, M.A., & Valencia-Naranjo, N. (2026). The role of rhythm in learning to read in children with and without reading difficulties: an intervention study. Learning and Instruction. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2025.102273

q3 · i? · causal · r2

Bootstrapped mediation analyses (Process, 10000 samples, HC3 standard errors) on the whole sample with intelligence and vocabulary as covariates. Table 3 shows a significant post-test indirect effect of stress awareness through PA1 (Effect = .51, LLCI = .07, ULCI = 1.04).

"Accordingly, indirect effects (post-test) were found for stress awareness and word reading through phonological awareness (oddity or blending), and for non-linguistic rhythm and word reading through one of the phonological awareness measures (oddity)."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Phonological Awareness — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes

Related Claims¶

• Phonological awareness (oddity) improved to a greater extent in the groups where rhythm was trained, in children without reading difficulties — related
• Rhythm training for children with reading difficulties may improve novel-word reading but should be done separately from phonological awareness training — related
• Stress awareness improved to a greater extent in the rhythm-trained groups in readers with and without difficulties — related
• Rhythm training did not improve non-linguistic rhythm perception in any group — related