Validation of the multidimensional reading habits instrument for primary school students / <i>Validación del instrumento multidimensional de hábitos lectores para estudiantes de educación primaria</i>

Children’s reading habits can contribute to the development of reading comprehension skills. Increased digitalization during the last years has introduced new reading practices. Accordingly, an adequate measurement is necessary to accurately examine the current reading habits of children for different purposes and across different media. Here we present the Multidimensional Reading Habits Instrument (MRHI), which is composed of two questionnaires that differentiate between purpose (leisure and academic) and reading media (print and digital formats). A total of 2,077 Spanish children from fourth to sixth grade participated in the validation process. CFA with class cluster control for each questionnaire evidenced good internal structure. The relationship between the proposed reading habits dimensions, reading comprehension and reading motivation evidenced adequate concurrent validity of the MRHI. We discuss the possible MRHI uses for practitioners and researchers in primary school.