Abstract
Dyslexia is a permanent condition characterized by reading difficulties that include inaccurate or slow and effortful word reading, poor decoding, and poor spelling abilities. People with dyslexia may have psychological and psychopathological issues such as low self-esteem, poor resilience, and symptoms of depression and anxiety. They may also develop social problems and emotional issues, as well as low academic and social self-efficacy. The present study aimed to assess the psychological features of a sample of 28 Italian university students with dyslexia, comparing them with a control group of typically developing students matched for gender, education, and academic discipline, to enhance our knowledge of dyslexia outcomes in an Italian setting. The results show that university students with dyslexia experience higher levels of somatic complaints, social and attentional problems, lower self-esteem, and higher depression scores than controls, while no difference emerged between the two groups’ resilience scores. In conclusion, the present findings suggest that university students with dyslexia report more psychological issues than students without dyslexia and could benefit from intervention to improve their psychological and physical well-being.
Highlights
The term “dyslexia” refers to a pattern of learning difficulties consisting in inaccurate or slow and effortful word reading, with weaknesses in decoding and spelling
They had all been diagnosed with dyslexia during their primary school years by specialist services forming part of the Italian National Health System. Some of these students had received specific training during their school years. Their diagnosis met the requirements of the DSM-IV (American Psychiatric Association, 2000) and complied with the guidelines typically adopted by public services and recently shared in an official document, namely: a normal level of general intelligence (IQ above 85); reading performance problems at a clinical level; and no neurological, sensory, or educational deficits that could have caused their reading impairment
The ANOVAs revealed that the dyslexic group’s scores on the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) [F(1,54) = 5.26; p = 0.026] were lower than those of the control group, whereas no differences emerged for the CD-RISC
Summary
The term “dyslexia” refers to a pattern of learning difficulties consisting in inaccurate or slow and effortful word reading, with weaknesses in decoding and spelling. It is a specific learning disorder, classified among the neurodevelopmental disorders in the Fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association, 2014). Dyslexia has been associated with psychological disorders (Undheim, 2003), and the more severe the dyslexia, the higher the level of the associated psychological symptoms Comorbidities such as dyscalculia, dysorthographia, and attentiondeficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) correlate with more severe psychological impairments (Martínez and Semrud-Clikeman, 2004; Mugnaini et al, 2009)
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