The effectiveness of attribution retraining on self- esteem and social skills of children with specific learning disabilities

The current study intended to examine the effectiveness of group attributional retraining on self-esteem and social skills of children specific learning disabilities in Tehran. This study used a quasi-experimental design with pretest-posttest and a control group. Using and convenient sampling method, 30 people (18 males and 12 females) with the age range of 8-12 were selected among all students with learning disabilities in Tehran (2015-2016), and they were equally assigned into two groups (experimental and control). The experimental group received group attributional retraining for 11 sessions of 45 minutes in six weeks while the control group only received the regular education in learning disabilities centers. Before and after the intervention Coopersmith Self-steam Inventory (1967) and Matson Social Skills Inventory (1983) were administered for both groups. The data were analyzed through multivariate analysis of covariance and multivariate analysis of variance. Attributional retraining resulted in a significant increase in self-esteem and social skills of students with learning disabilities in experimental group. According to the findings, one may conclude that attributional retraining may increase self-esteem and social skills of students with learning disabilities. Therefore, this program may contribute to improvement of mental health and adaptive attributions in these children.