Understanding the individual qualities sustaining students with and without specific learning disabilities (SLDs) is key to supporting their academic achievement and well-being. In this study, we investigated the differences between students with and without SLDs in terms of intraindividual factors (soft skills and study-related factors), academic…

Personal disability identity is a predictor of psychosocial functioning among adults with predominantly physical disabilities. In the present study, we examined personal disability identity in adults with learning disabilities (LD) and/or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In samples of 541 adults with LD, 475 with ADHD, and 433 with…

This study examined ADHD symptomatology and college adjustment in 420 participants--147 from the United States and 273 from China. It was hypothesized that higher levels of ADHD symptoms in general and the inattentive symptom group in particular would be related to decreased academic and social adjustment, career decision-making self-efficacy, and…

The effectiveness of Strategic Content Learning, an intervention model to promote self-regulated and strategic learning, was investigated. Six adults with learning disabilities chose a task of importance to current or future academic work and were provided individualized support on relevant tasks. Results indicated student gains in task…

We examined how strongly motivation, metacognition, and psychopathology acted as predictors of learning disabilities (LD). The results from five studies suggested that level of motivation (as shown through self-efficacy, motivational force, task avoidance, goal commitment, or self-concept) was highly accurate in classifying students with or at…

A study of 34 university students with learning disabilities reported significantly poorer self-esteem, academic adjustment, and personal-emotional adjustment than a sample of 31 non-learning-disabled students. For both groups, self-esteem correlated positively with general self-efficacy, and both variables correlated positively with adjustment to…

This study used qualitative methodology to investigate the self-efficacy beliefs of early adolescents with learning disabilities (LD). We conducted a series of focus group interviews with 28 Grade 8 and 9 students with LD and individual interviews with 7 specialist LD teachers. Content analyses of the student and teacher data resulted in 2 a…

A model of achievement applicable to learning disabled students is presented which comprises entry characteristics, self-efficacy for learning, task engagement variables, and efficacy cues. Research is summarized on effects of social and instructional variables on self-efficacy and achievement behaviors. Self-efficacy appeared to predict student…

This study compared the social-emotional implications of academic achievement for students with and without learning disabilities (LD) and identified predictors of effort investment. Students with LD showed lower levels of achievement, effort investment, academic self-efficacy, sense of coherence, positive mood, and hope, and higher levels of…

This study investigated the need to include explicit attributional retraining in a program designed to teach self-regulation reading comprehension strategies to 60 Spanish children (grades 5-6) with learning disabilities. Regardless of attributional retraining, children improved on measures of cognitive strategies, but their gains were very low on…

Interviews with 39 students with learning disabilities (LD, grades 4-8) and 29 normally achieving students revealed that, compared to controls, LD students had less mature conceptualizations of writing and less favorable attitudes toward writing but no differences in evaluations of their competence in either writing or the composing process.…

In two studies involving 18 secondary-level students with learning disabilities and 32 elementary-level at-risk African-American and Hispanic students, it was found that students exposed to positive-mood induction completed more math problems accurately than control children, and the secondary-level experimental students expressed greater…

Specific self-determination skills have been identified as being related to the successful transition of students with learning disabilities to postsecondary education. This study developed and validated a model program which was effective in teaching secondary students the self-determination skills of self-advocacy and self-awareness. (DB)