Attributions for Achievement Outcomes Among Behavioral Subgroups of Children with Learning Disabilities

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether different behavioral subgroups of children with learning disabilities (LD) form different beliefs regarding the causes of their achievement-related successes and failures. The sample ( n = 75) was composed of five carefully matched groups of 15 children: (a) nondisabled, non-behavior-disordered, nonreferred; (b) nondisabled, non-behavior-disordered clinic-referred; (c) LD, non-behavior-disordered; (d) LD exhibiting externalizing behaviors; and (e) LD exhibiting both externalizing and internalizing behaviors. Results suggest that the achievement attributions of children with LD are heterogeneous and are related to presence and type of behavior disorder. It appears that not all children with LD develop maiadaptive beliefs. Findings are discussed in terms of implications for education and attribution retraining.