Anxiety and Attentional Bias in Children with Specific Learning Disorders

Abstract

Children with specific learning disorders (SLDs) face a unique set of socio-emotional challenges as a result of their academic difficulties. Although a higher prevalence of anxiety in children with SLD is often reported, there is currently no research on cognitive mechanisms underlying this anxiety. One way to elucidate these mechanisms is to investigate attentional bias to threatening stimuli using a dot-probe paradigm. Our study compared children ages 9-16 with SLD (n = 48) to typically-developing (TD) controls (n = 33) on their attentional biases to stimuli related to general threats, reading, and stereotypes of SLD. We found a significant threat bias away from reading-related stimuli in the SLD, but not TD group. This attentional bias was not observed with the general threat and stereotype stimuli. Further, children with SLD reported greater anxiety compared to TD children. These results suggest that children with SLD experience greater anxiety, which may partially stem from reading specifically. The finding of avoidance rather than vigilance to reading stimuli indicates the use of more top-down attentional control. This work has important implications for therapeutic approaches to anxiety in children with SLD and highlights the need for attention to socio-emotional difficulties in this population. Future research is needed to further investigate the cognitive aspects of socio-emotional difficulties in children with SLD, as well as how this may impact academic outcomes.

Does Stereotype Threat Deteriorate Academic Performance of High School Students With Learning Disabilities? The Buffering Role of Psychological Disengagement

“…Furthermore, students in stereotype threat condition reported more avoidance motivation than those in control condition. However, Haft et al (2019) compared children aged 9-16 with special learning disabilities to typical developing control group on attentional biases to stimuli related to stereotypes of special learning disabilities but did not observe differences between the two groups. In addition, Ambady, Shih, Kim, and Pittinsky (2001) compared the cognitive task performance of students with learning disabilities (ranging from third grade to high school) in a high stereotype threat group and reduced stereotype threat group but did not find significant differences.…”

“…Most of the relevant studies proposed that students with learning disabilities may suffer from stereotype threat (Haft et al, 2019; Shifrer, 2013). First, students with learning disabilities may suffer from stereotype threat because the labels from teachers, peers, and parents make them feel stigmatized.…”

“…Second, students with learning disabilities may suffer from stereotype threat based on the indirect evidence that these students experience higher level of anxiety and decreased cognitive resources, factors that have proven to be closely associated to stereotype threat (Haft et al, 2019). Since individuals with learning disabilities experience a higher level of anxiety than those without learning disabilities (Nelson & Harwood, 2011), they are probably more frustrated with the labels attached by the culture.…”

“…Though most studies proposed that stereotype threat may exist among students with learning disabilities, only a few studies have examined the effect of stereotype threat on cognitive and academic performance of students with learning disabilities empirically (Aquino, 2011; Denhart, 2008; Haft et al, 2019; May & Stone, 2010, 2014; Wang & Yu, 2017). May and Stone (2008) initially examined the role of stereotype threat in learning disabled undergraduate students’ academic performance.…”

Linking Early Life Hypothalamic–Pituitary–Adrenal Axis Functioning, Brain Asymmetries, and Personality Traits in Dyslexia: An Informative Case Study

“…Similarly, high levels of tension, anxiety, and depression in students and adolescents with learning disorders (LD) have been reported (Wilson et al, 2009; Panicker and Chelliah, 2016), while Lufi and Awwad (2013) have documented a high probability of test anxiety for adults with LD. Moreover, a significantly lower level of psychosocial health was reported recently for children with LD (Matteucci et al, 2019), and further, in addition to anxiety, such children may have attentional biases specific to reading (Haft et al, 2019), a situation that may, in turn, perpetuate anxiety (Bar-Haim et al, 2007), emphasizing the importance of individualized interventions, considering the psycho- and socio-emotional difficulties in this population.…”