A comparison of the self and ideal-self concepts of learning disabled and non-learning disabled children

The present study was designed to investigate how learning disabled children's self-concept differs from that of nonlearning disabled children. It was specifically hypothesised that learning disabled children would have a significantly lower self-concept than non-learning disabled children, and that learning disabled children would demonstrate a significantly greater discrepancy between self and ideal-self concepts (a measure of psychological adjustment) than non-learn- ing disabled children. Results indicated that learning disabled children had a significantly lower self-concept than did non-learning disabled children. However, learning disabled children did not significantly differ from non-learning disabled children in the amount of discrepancy between self and ideal-self concept. In addition, a post hoc analysis of the ideal-self concept of both groups indicated no significant difference existed. It was concluded that though learning disabled children do appear to have a significantly lower self-concept than do non-learning disabled children, this may not have a significant affect on their levels of psychological adjustment.