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Background and Objectives: School students with specific learning disabilities (SpLDs) endure academic difficulties, anxiety, and social maladaptation. The primary objective of the present study was to evaluate the emotional intelligence (EI) abilities of these afflicted students. Its secondary objective was to analyze the impact of socio-demographic variables on their EI abilities. Settings and Design: Cross-sectional single-arm questionnaire-based study was conducted in the Learning Disability clinic in a public medical college in Mumbai. Subjects and Methods: SpLD students studying in class standards VII–IX were recruited by non-probability sampling. Their EI (overall, subscales, and settings) scores were measured using the Four EsScale of Emotional Intelligence-Adolescents (FESEI-A) questionnaire; and compared with Indian norm scores by utilizing the Mann - Whitney U test. To evaluate the unadjusted impact that each of the "variables" had on the FESEI-A scores, linear regression or the Mann-Whitney U test, or the Kruskal-Wallis test, was utilized as applicable. Results: SpLD students had similar "overall" EI abilities as their regular peers. Their EI scores in school setting were significantly lower (P = 0.001), but significantly higher in social setting (P = 0.005). At univariate level, presence of co-occurring attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder was significantly associated with a lower "school setting" score (P = 0.040). Higher socioeconomic status was significantly associated with a higher "overall" score and "family setting" score (P = 0.023 and P= 0.041, respectively). Conclusions: There is an urgent need to evaluate the EI abilities of SpLD students to identify deficits so that optimum rehabilitation can be facilitated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: School students with specific learning disabilities (SpLDs) experience chronic academic underachievement and resultant stress. The present study aimed to determine if school students with newly diagnosed SpLD were more likely to have anxiety than their regular peers. Materials and Methods: The study cases (aged 8-15 years) were recruited from our institute’s learning disability clinic. The matched controls were recruited from four schools in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Anxiety was measured using the Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale (SCAS)-child self-report version questionnaire. Median SCAS scores and the proportion of students with an SCAS score in the “clinical anxiety” range were compared between the groups. Results: SCAS scores were significantly higher in 8-11-year-old learning-disabled male and female students (P < 0.0001 for both groups) and 12-15-year-old female students (P = 0.004), as compared with matched controls. A significantly higher number of learning-disabled students were found to have “clinical anxiety” [24.64% vs 4.35%, crude odds ratio (OR) = 7.19, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.91-17.78, P = 0.0001], as compared with the controls regardless of gender, age group, presence of comorbid attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or associated medical conditions. A significantly higher proportion of 8-11-year-old learning-disabled students, especially males, were found to have “clinical anxiety” as compared with 12-15-year-old learning-disabled students (crude OR = 4.38, 95% CI 1.94-9.92, P = 0.0004). Gender, presence of comorbid ADHD or associated medical conditions, and type of school attended or curriculum did not impact the prevalence of “clinical anxiety” in learning-disabled students. Interpretation and Conclusions: Students with newly diagnosed SpLD have greater odds of being “clinically anxious” relative to their regular peers. We recommend screening for anxiety in children with SpLD immediately after diagnosis so that their optimum rehabilitation can be facilitated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]