The Role of Learning Difficulties in Adolescents’ Academic Emotions and Academic Achievement

• Published in: Journal of learning disabilities Vol. 52; no. 4; pp. 287 - 298
• Main Authors: Sainio, Petra J., Eklund, Kenneth M., Ahonen, Timo P. S., Kiuru, Noona H.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.07.2019; SAGE Publications and Hammill Institute on Disabilities; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Academic Achievement; Adolescent boys; Adolescent girls; Adolescents; Anxiety; Elementary School Students; Emotional Response; Emotions; Enjoyment; Foreign Countries; Grade 6; Learner Engagement; Learning disabilities; Learning Problems; Literacy; Mathematics Skills; Psychological Patterns; Questionnaires; Reading achievement; Reading Difficulties; Reading disabilities; Special education; Students; Teenagers; Finland; learning difficulties; academic achievement; reading difficulties; math difficulties; academic emotions
• ISSN: 0022-2194; 1538-4780
• DOI: 10.1177/0022219419841567

The present study examines associations between learning difficulties (LD), academic emotions, and academic achievement among 845 Grade 6 adolescents (455 girls, 390 boys). Reading difficulties (RD) and math difficulties (MD) were identified based on tested reading and math skills in the fall semester of Grade 6. At this time, the students also rated their hope, enjoyment, and anxiety regarding literacy and math. Information on students’ achievement in literacy and math, as well as their overall academic achievement, was gathered using questionnaires in both the fall and spring semesters of Grade 6. The results show, first, that students with RD had lower hope and higher anxiety toward reading than those without RD. Also, students with MD reported lower enjoyment, lower hope, and higher anxiety than those without MD. Furthermore, the results show that hope partly played a mediating role between LD and academic achievement in both the literacy and math domains. In addition, enjoyment played a mediating role in the math domain. The present study’s results indicate that subject-specific academic emotions should be taken into account when considering relations between LD and academic achievement.