More Than Words: Anxiety, Self-Esteem, and Behavioral Problems in Children and Adolescents With Dyslexia

Abstract

This study focused on psycho-affective and behavioral problems in children and adolescents with dyslexia. It aims to define clinical psycho-affective and behavioral profiles of dyslexia beyond those found in existing descriptions of the cognitive, neural, and behavioral correlates. The study focused specifically on the understudied population of native Italian-speaking students. Characteristics of anxiety and self-esteem, as psycho-affective factors, and a variety of associated behavioral problems were studied in a sample of children and adolescents with dyslexia (n = 22) and compared to those of a group without learning disabilities (n = 25). The findings suggest the group of participants diagnosed with dyslexia exhibited psycho-affective symptoms, especially anxiety and low self-esteem in social and academic situations more frequently than the control group. These problems were related to reading measures. More research is needed to determine how they are related and their interaction. Overall, these findings are useful in clarifying the profile of psycho-affective symptoms in the development of academic difficulties in children and adolescents with dyslexia. In some cases, school personnel focus their interventions only on the academic difficulties and not the psycho-affective or behavioral problems. These findings could have implications regarding intervention for this population.