Relationships Between Self-Esteem, Anxiety, and Achievement in Young Learning Disabled Students

Abstract

This study investigates the relationships between both the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory and the Sarason General Anxiety Scale for Children and the Peabody Individual Achievement Test (subtests of Mathematics, Reading Recognition, and General Information). Eighty-eight kindergarten through sixth-grade learning disabled children placed in the regular classroom with resource help were tested individually by a certified learning disabilities teacher. Pearson product-moment coefficients of correlation between all variables were determined for the total sample and for each sex. Significant relationships were found between (a) self-esteem and Mathematics, Reading Recognition, and General Information achievement scores for the total group and females, (b) self-esteem and Reading Recognition and General Information achievement scores for males, (c) general anxiety and General Information achievement scores for the total group and for males (negative direction), and (d) general anxiety and self-esteem for the total group and males (negative direction).