2016/05/22 by Sima Zach, Orly Yazdi-Ugav, Aviva Zeev · 38 citations
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Academic achievement #Clinical psychology #Developmental psychology #Early Childhood Education and Development #Family and Disability Support Research #Feeling #Loneliness #Parental Involvement in Education #Psychology #Social psychology #Social skills #Variance (accounting)
paper · doi:10.1177/0143034316649231
published in School Psychology International 37(4), 378-396 (SAGE Publishing)
openalex publication_date 2016/05/22 · crossref created 2016/05/22 · crossref issued 2016/07/08 · crossref published 2016/07/08 · crossref published-online 2016/07/08 · crossref published-print 2016/08/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · crossref deposited 2026/05/01 · crossref indexed 2026/08/01 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/02
This study aimed to examine to what extent academic achievements, learning disorders, behavior problems and loneliness explain the variance of students’ social skills. The differences between students diagnosed with learning disorders and students without learning disorders in all four variables were examined. Participants were 733 elementary students (642 without LD; 91 with LD). Homeroom teachers assessed students’ academic achievements, behavior problems, and social skills. Students completed questionnaires regarding their loneliness feelings. Regression analysis showed that academic achievement and behavior problems explained approximately 70% of the students’ social skills variance, whereas LD did not, and loneliness explained social skills variance only among boys. These unexpected but encouraging findings are discussed in terms of the positive process of change that occurred since the announcement of the Israeli National Special Education Law of 1988, which made it possible for students with LD to be integrated in regular classes.