The sources and manifestations of stress amongst school‐aged dyslexics, compared with sibling controls

Abstract

All school children experience stress at some point in their school careers. This study investigates whether dyslexic children, by way of their educational and social difficulties, experience higher levels of stress at school. The School Situation Survey was used to investigate both the sources and manifestations of stress amongst dyslexic children and non-dyslexic sibling controls. Samples were broken down by gender, age and the size of families. Results suggest significant differences between the groups, with dyslexics in academic years 3-5 experiencing the highest stress levels, specifically in interactions with teachers, worries over academic examinations (SATs) and performance testing, causing emotional (fear, shyness and loneliness) and physiological (nausea, tremors or rapid heart beat) manifestations. Results also suggest that dyslexics in larger families (3-4 sibling families) experience greater stress in interactions with their peers, than those in smaller families (two sibling families)--possibly from unfair sibling comparison.