Seemingly small reading delays in early childhood have the potential to compound into more considerable reading difficulties later in childhood (Bast & Reitsma, 1998; Foster & Miller, 2007). Children growing up in at-risk households are especially vulnerable to falling behind in reading. The objective of this study was to explore the successive interactions and indirect effects of environmental and within child variables that influence reading outcomes for at-risk children. The work was informed by Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model (Bronfenbrenner & Ceci, 1994), prevailing models of children’s reading development (National Reading Council, 2000), and mediational theories on the effects of poverty (Yeung, Linver, & Brooks-Gunn, 2002). This study examined the associations between income, the early home environment (home literacy and maternal depression), sustained attention, genetic susceptibility, and children's reading outcomes in kindergarten and third-grade. Data were drawn from a nationally representative dataset of at-risk families and children, the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS). The primary analysis techniques were latent variable structural equation modeling (SEM) that examined the mediated and moderated pathways between environmental and within child variables. The final study sample consisted of approximately 2,062 children and their primary caregivers, mostly mothers. Several direct associations were significant. Results indicated that households with more income had children with better reading scores in kindergarten, but not in third grade. Children’s early sustained attention predicted their kindergarten and third-grade reading scores. Mothers’ endorsements of depression did not predict their children’s reading in kindergarten or third grade. Homes with more home literacy had children with higher reading scores in kindergarten, but the direct effects of the early home literacy environment did not persist until third grade. Analyses only supported the indirect path through the home literacy environment. More specifically, homes with more income had more enriched home literacy environments, and children exposed to better home literacy environments had better reading outcomes in kindergarten and third grade. Moderation analyses did not support the hypothesis that DRD4 long allele would differentiate the associations between income, home literacy environment, and children’s third-grade reading outcomes. Post- hoc analyses were conducted using two group SEM comparison testing. A unique and novel significant moderation effect was identified, where the DRD4 long allele moderated the direct association between the early home literacy environment and children’s kindergarten letter-word reading. The findings provide support for the importance of the home environment during the early developmental period and the genetic susceptibility of children with the DRD4 long allele during kindergarten.
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