Social Support, Social Skills, and Educational Setting and their Relation to the Perceived Self-Concept of Children with Learning Disabilities

Abstract

This study examined student-perceived teacher and classmate support, teacher- and peer-preferred social skills, and educational setting and their relation to student-perceived scholastic competence and social acceptance. Sixty children in fourth and fifth grades who were diagnosed with a learning disability (LD) in reading or written language participated in the study, as well as students' language arts teachers. Four research questions were posed. The first two questions asked whether educational setting was related to students' perceptions of teacher support and classmate support. The third question asked if student-perceived teacher support, teacher-preferred social skills, and educational setting were related to student-perceived scholastic competence. The last question asked whether student-perceived classmate support, peer-preferred social skills, and educational setting were related to student-perceived social acceptance. Two one-way ANOVAs indicated that student perceptions of teacher and classmate support were not related to educational setting. The third and fourth questions were answered using a parallel statistical procedure involving standard multiple regression analyses. Results indicated that social support and social skills were related to aspects of self-concept, and educational setting was related to self-concept. Implications of these findings regarding the role of school psychologists and the development of children with LD were discussed, emphasizing the importance of social processes within the classroom as well as how children with LD formulate their self-perceptions.