Fathers’ Coping Resources and Children’s Socioemotional Adjustment Among Children With Learning Disabilities

Abstract

This study examined a cumulative model of vulnerability and protective factors at the individual level (children’s attachment relationships with father and children’s sense of coherence) and at the family level as manifested by fathers’ coping resources (fathers’ sense of coherence, fathers’ active and avoidant coping strategies) in helping to explain differences in socioemotional and behavioral adjustment among children at the age 8 to 12 years with learning disabilities (LD) and or with typical development. The sample included 205 father-child dyads: 107 fathers and their children having LD and 98 fathers and their children with typical development, from the same public elementary schools. Preliminary analyses indicated significant group differences on all the children’s measures as well as on fathers’ avoidant coping strategies. Path analysis examined the multidimensional risk model for the LD and non-LD groups. The study found a high fit between the theoretical model and the empirical findings as well as a different pattern of relationship between the model’s components for the two populations studied. Discussion focuses on understanding the unique value of vulnerability and protective factors at the individual and family levels on children’s well-adjusted functioning.