Self-Concept in Primary School Student with Dyslexia: The Relationship to Parental Rearing Styles

Abstract

Dyslexic children may be more likely to form a negative self-concept, especially with poor educational experiences and negative parenting. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the self-concept of Chinese dyslexic children in primary school, and explore the influence factors of self-concept as well as its relationship with parenting style. A total of 50 children with dyslexia and 50 non-dyslexics matched for age, grade and gender participated in the study. We used the Piers-Harris children’s self-concept scale (PHCSS) and the Chinese version of Egna Minnen Beträffande Uppfostran for Children (EMBU-C) to evaluate the self-concept and parenting styles of the study population. Our results indicated that the academic competence, popularity and general self-concept in the dyslexic group were significantly lower than those in the control group (p < 0.05). Based on the multivariate linear regression, we also found that residence (β = −0.32, p < 0.05) and physical activity (β = 0.36, p < 0.01) may influence factors self-concept in dyslexic children. In addition, a moderate and positive correlation was found between the self-concept of physical appearance and maternal emotional warmth (r = 0.36, p < 0.05) by using the Spearman correlation analysis. Our outcomes suggested that children with dyslexia have a poorer self-concept than typical developing children. The self-concept of dyslexic children should be improved in order to achieve better physical and mental development.