Parent -youth relations and adjustment of youth with and without learning disabilities

• Main Author: Zinck, Lana Catherine
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses 01-01-2007
• Subjects: Adolescents; Children & youth; Control Groups; Educational Environment; Educational psychology; Individual & family studies; Learning disabilities; Literature Reviews; Parent Child Relationship; Parents & parenting; Special education
• ISBN: 9780494479292; 0494479299

Youth with learning disabilities (LD) are at risk for difficulties in academic, social-emotional and behavioural domains. Cohesive and flexible family relationships are protective for youth at-risk, including youth with LD, although there is little empirical research on families of youth with LD. The purpose of the present study was to build on the area of parent-child relationships and adjustment of youth with LD and determine whether specific aspects of parent-child communication including, clarity, open emotional expression, and problem solving are associated with various aspects of adjustment in youth with and without LD, beyond that predicted by parental control and involvement. Fifty-two youth with LD and a matched group of 52 youth without LD (NLD) completed measures of social, emotional, and behavioural adjustment, as well as questionnaires related to their relationships with their mothers and fathers. Report card grades were obtained as a measure of academic competence. Results revealed that the parent-child relationship variables differentially predicted various domains of adjustment for youth with and without LD. For youth with LD, perceptions of problematic maternal control and involvement significantly predicted emotional distress and behaviour problems, and were inversely related to psychosocial adjustment. The communication variables did not significantly contribute to the prediction of any adjustment area. In contrast, for youth without LD, perceptions of problematic maternal control and involvement only predicted behaviour problems. However, perceptions of poor maternal problem solving and clarity of communication predicted a significant and unique amount of variance in emotional distress and psychosocial maladjustment, respectively. Surprisingly, poorer maternal problem solving was also predictive of academic adjustment for NLD youth. Overall, the results suggest that youth with and without LD appear to benefit from a different kind of support from their parents during the period of early adolescence. While healthy levels of parental control and involvement are important for youth with LD, it appears that engaging in constructive communication with parents is more important for NLD youth. Implications for school psychologists are discussed in light of potential domains of intervention for parents and youth with and without LD.