Socioemotional and Academic Adjustment Among Children with Learning Disorders: The Mediational Role of Attachment-Based Factors

The results of a large number of studies suggest that children with learning disorders are more likely to experience adjustment problems than are their typically developing peers (e.g., Morrison & Cosden, 1997; Wenz-Gross & Siperstein, 1998). Studies have indicated that in addition to their learning difficulties, these children evidence a high level of peer rejection and loneliness, a deficit in their sense of coherence, and multiple emotional problems (e.g., Culbertson, 1998; Margalit & Levin-Al-Yagon, 1994; Morrison & Cosden, 1997). On this basis, research on children with learning disorders should focus on identifying vulnerability factors that increase maladjustment, as well as protective factors that enhance positive adjustment (Morrison & Cosden, 1997).