Research Paper The Structural Model of Social Skills in Children with Learning Disabilities based on the Attachment Styles: the Mediating Role of Academic Self-efficacy

Learning disabilities affect many aspects of a personchr('39')s life, including social skills. And, most children with poor social skills are depressed and isolated. Therefore, this study aimed to develop a structural model of social skills in children with learning disabilities based on their attachment styles, through the mediating role of academic self-efficacy.

The present study was an applied research in its objective and a survey-correlational study using structural equations in the method of gathering the data. A sample of 200 students with learning disabilities referring to Bujika Center for the Treatment of Learning Disabilities in Tehran in 2019-2020 were selected by convenience sampling. The Social Skills Rating System-Parents Version (Gresham & Elliott, 1990), the Kinship Center Attachment Questionnaire (Halpern & Kappenberg, 2006), and the Academic Self-Efficacy Scale (Jinks & Morgan, 1999) were used to collect data.  Research data were analyzed by structural equation modeling and mediation effect testing in the proposed model using bootstrap method.

Findings showed that the proposed model was fitted to the data. Based on the results, anxious and avoidant attachment styles and academic self-efficacy were negative and positive predictor of social skills, respectively (p<0.05). Findings also confirmed the mediating role of academic self-efficacy in the relationship between anxious and avoidant attachment styles and social skills.

Therefore, it can be concluded that anxious and avoidant attachment styles decrease the social skills in children with learning disabilities, while the indirect effect of attachment styles through the mediating role of academic self-efficacy improves the social skills in these children.