How storage and executive functions contribute to children's reading comprehension

• Storage and executive functions contribute to variation in reading comprehension.
• Cognitive flexibility and the listening span task contribute directly to reading comprehension.
• Storage contributes to reading comprehension performance via the listening span task.
• Cognitive flexibility contributes to reading comprehension via the listening span task.
• Inhibition contributes to reading comprehension via the listening span task.

In the current study we investigated the contribution of storage and separate measures of executive functions to reading comprehension in Dutch 5th graders, while controlling for word recognition and vocabulary. In addition we investigated the relationship between this model and working memory as assessed with a listening span task--which reflects an integrated measure of both storage and executive functions.Regression analysis revealed that word recognition, vocabulary, cognitive flexibility and listening span task performance contributed directly to reading comprehension. Adding the listening span task to the model led to a change in the beta-values of storage, inhibition and cognitive flexibility, indicating that these variables shared variance with listening span task performance. A second regression analysis confirmed this finding: storage, inhibition and cognitive flexibility contributed to listening span task performance, and hence indirectly to reading comprehension.Together, these findings highlight the contribution of storage and executive functions to children's reading comprehension.