DSA, disabilità e successo accademico

Abstract

Research shows that academic success depends on various factors, among which the emotional component plays a major role. This correlation seems to be more evident in students with a diagnosis of Specific Learning Disorder (SLD) and in students suffering from an invalidating chronic illness, namely migraine with and without aura. For this reason, this study aims to investigate the correlation between academic success and psychological features, specifically self-evaluation of competences, self-image, perceived self-efficacy and levels of worry and emotionality in three categories of university students: students with SLD, students with migraine, and normal readers. The study involved a sample of 11 female students with SLD, 16 female students with migraine, and 19 female students identified as normal readers. Data were collected through the use of CAWI method and analysed thanks to SPSS. Results indicated that academic performance calculated through the academic success index (ISA) is correlated to some of the above-mentioned psychological features in students with migraine and in normal readers. No significant correlation has been found between either ISA or weighted mean and the different psychological features analysed in the group of students with SLD. Nevertheless, each of the considered variables has been examined in detail in the descriptive analysis of the results. In addition, the trend of the scoring obtained by these students in the various emotional components has served as subject of reflection. Since the research was conducted on a low number of subjects and only female students were involved, it would be interesting to repeat the research on a larger sample including both sexes.