The Role of Learning Difficulties in Adolescents' Academic Emotions and Academic Achievement.

The present study examines associations between learning difficulties (LD), academic emotions, and academic achievement among 845 Grade 6 adolescents (455 girls, 390 boys). Reading difficulties (RD) and math difficulties (MD) were identified based on tested reading and math skills in the fall semester of Grade 6. At this time, the students also rated their hope, enjoyment, and anxiety regarding literacy and math. Information on students' achievement in literacy and math, as well as their overall academic achievement, was gathered using questionnaires in both the fall and spring semesters of Grade 6. The results show, first, that students with RD had lower hope and higher anxiety toward reading than those without RD. Also, students with MD reported lower enjoyment, lower hope, and higher anxiety than those without MD. Furthermore, the results show that hope partly played a mediating role between LD and academic achievement in both the literacy and math domains. In addition, enjoyment played a mediating role in the math domain. The present study's results indicate that subject-specific academic emotions should be taken into account when considering relations between LD and academic achievement.

Resolving reading disability-Childhood predictors and adult-age outcomes.

We examined frequency of adult-age reading disability (RD) and its childhood predictors among 48 adults (20 to 39 years) with documented childhood RD, and contrasted their cognitive skills, education, and employment with 37 matched controls. Among individuals with childhood RD, more than half had improved in their reading fluency to the level where the set criterion for adult-age RD was not met anymore. More fluent rapid naming, less severe childhood RD, and multiple support providers in childhood together predicted improvement of reading fluency. More fluent naming differentiated the childhood RD participants whose reading fluency had improved by adult-age from those participants whose RD persisted to adult-age. All the individuals with childhood RD performed weaker than the controls in adult-age working memory, processing speed, and verbal skills. Educational level among both RD groups was lower than that among the controls. Unemployment of individuals with persistent adult-age RD (31.6%) was higher than that of individuals with improved adult-age RD (13.8%) or that of the controls (8.1%). According to our findings, rapid naming is one evident factor differentiating individuals with persisted RD from those with ameliorated reading fluency. Also, better adult-age reading fluency has significance for adult-age employment among individuals with childhood RD.

Reducing Stress and Enhancing Academic Buoyancy among Adolescents Using a Brief Web-based Program Based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Acceptance and commitment therapy programs have rarely been used as preventive tools for alleviating stress and enhancing coping skills among adolescents. This randomized controlled trial examined the efficacy of a novel Finnish web- and mobile-delivered five-week intervention program called Youth COMPASS among a general sample of ninth-grade adolescents (n= 249, 49% females). The intervention group showed a small but significant decrease in overall stress (between-group Cohen's d = 0.22) and an increase in academic buoyancy (d= 0.27). Academic skills did not influence the intervention gains, but the intervention gains were largest among high-stressed participants. The results suggest that the acceptance and commitment based Youth COMPASS program may be well suited for promoting adolescents' well-being in the school context.