Comparison of Academic Self-regulation, Subjective Vitality, and Academic Vitality in Students with and Without Learning Disorder

In recent years, with the improvement of the educational system, the treatment of learning disabilities in students has attracted the attention of many education specialists. As a result, it is very important to study the psychological aspects of students with learning disabilities and to identify the factors affecting them. Thus, the present study was conducted with the aim of comparing academic self-discipline, mental vitality, and academic vitality in students with and without special learning disorders.

The design of this research was a descriptive causal-comparative one. The research population included all the students of the 3rd to 6th grades of the first and the second district schools of Rasht city in the academic year of 2021-2022, and their number was 15071. The study sample was 120 individuals (including 60 students with learning disorders and 60 students without disorders) who were selected by convenience sampling method and taking the inclusion and exclusion conditions into account. In order to collect data, questionnaires of Academic Self-regulation (Swalend and Karin, 2007), Subjective Vitality (Ryan and Frederick, 1997) and Academic Vitality (Hossein Chari and Dehghanizadeh, 2013) were used. The research data was analyzed using t-tests and multivariate analysis of variance.

The results of this study showed that the students with special learning disorder obtained lower grades in comparison to the students without disorders (P < 0.01) in terms of the total score of academic self-discipline and its dimensions (external regulation, internalized regulation, specified regulation, intrinsic motivation), mental vitality, and academic vitality.

According to the findings of the research, it can be concluded that students with special learning disorder are weaker in academic self-discipline, mental vitality, and academic vitality than students without special learning disorder. Therefore, it is possible to solve these problems through early identification of these students, informing parents and school teachers, and implementing early screening and rehabilitation programs.