The purpose of this study was threefold: to examine unique and shared risk factors of comorbidity for reading comprehension and word-problem solving difficulties, to explore whether language minority (LM) learners are at increased risk of what we refer to as higher order comorbidity (reading comprehension and word-problem solving difficulties), and to examine the profiles of at-risk LM learners compared with at-risk non-LM learners. At-risk (LM n = 70; non-LM n = 89) and not-at-risk (LM n = 44; non-LM n = 114) students were evaluated on foundational academic (word reading, calculation), behavioral (behavioral attention), cognitive (working memory, processing speed, nonverbal reasoning), and language (vocabulary, listening comprehension) measures in English. Results indicated listening comprehension was the only shared risk factor for higher order comorbidity. Furthermore, LM learners were 3 times more likely to be identified as at-risk compared with non-LM learners. Finally, among at-risk learners, no differences were found on cognitive dimensions by language status, but LM learners had lower reading and listening comprehension skills than non-LM learners, with a relative advantage in behavioral attention. Results have implications for understanding higher order comorbidity and for developing methods to identify and intervene with higher order comorbidity among the growing population of LM learners.

这项研究的目的有三个：检查阅读理解和解决单词问题困难的合并症的独特和共同风险因素，探讨语言少数（LM）学习者是否面临更高的风险，我们称之为高阶合并症（阅读理解和解决单词问题的困难），并检查有风险的 LM 学习者与有风险的非 LM 学习者的概况。有风险（LM n = 70；非 LM n = 89）和无风险（LM n = 44；非 LM n= 114) 学生接受了英语基础学术（单词阅读、计算）、行为（行为注意力）、认知（工作记忆、处理速度、非语言推理）和语言（词汇、听力理解）措施的评估。结果表明听力理解是高阶合并症的唯一共同风险因素。此外，与非 LM 学习者相比，LM 学习者被识别为有风险的可能性高 3 倍。最后，在高危学习者中，语言状态在认知维度上没有差异，但 LM 学习者的阅读和听力理解能力低于非 LM 学习者，但在行为注意力方面具有相对优势。