The relationship between self-regulation skills and academic success in students with mild and moderate intellectual disabilities

Abstract

Students with intellectual disabilities (ID) have considerable difficulties in adjusting to the requirements of the academic environment. The major risk factors are: cognition deficiency, insufficiently developed adaptive skills, lower levels of self-regulation of behavior, and social and functional incompetence. The goal of this research was to establish the relationship among self-regulation skills, the level of intellectual disability, academic success, and sex in students with mild and moderate intellectual disabilities. The sample included 131 students with mild and moderate ID, of both sexes, between 8 and 24 years of age. Self-Control Rating Scale (SCRS) was used to assess the level of self-regulation skills. Academic success of students was expressed as the average grade at the end of the school year. A considerable interrelation was found between the level of adoption of self-regulation skills, the level of intellectual development and general academic success in students with ID. Significant influence of the participants' sex on the quality of self-regulation was found only in participants with moderate ID. Female participants had better achievements than male participants.

Učenici sa intelektualnom ometenošću (IO) imaju značajne teškoće u adaptaciji na zahteve školske sredine. Smatra se da su osnovni faktori rizika: kognitivni deficit, nedovoljan razvoj adaptivnih veština, niži nivo samoregulacije u ponašanju i socijalna i funkcionalna nekompetentnost. Cilj ovog istraživanja je utvrđivanje odnosa između veštine samoregulacije, nivoa intelektualnog funkcionisanja, akademskog uspeha i pola kod učenika sa lakom i umerenom IO. Uzorak je obuhvatio 131 učenika sa lakom i umerenom IO, oba pola, kalendarskog uzrasta od 8 do 24 godine. Za utvrđivanje nivoa razvijenosti veština samoregulacije korišćena je Skala za procenu samokontrole (Self-Control Rating Scale, SCRS). Akademsko postignuće učenika je izraženo prosečnom ocenom na kraju školske godine. Utvrđeno je da postoji značajna povezanost između nivoa usvojenosti veštine samoregulacije učenika sa IO i nivoa njihovog intelektualnog razvoja, kao i opšteg akademskog uspeha. Pol je značajno uticao na kvalitet samoregulacije samo kod ispitanika sa umerenom IO. Devojčice su imale bolja postignuća od dečaka.