Examining Prediction Models of Giving Up within a Resource based Framework of Coping in Primary School Students with and without Learning Disabilities
This study tests a proposed model of coping outcomes for 290 primary school students in Years 5 and 6 (mean age 11.50 years) with and without learning disabilities (LDs) within a resource based framework of coping. Group administered educational and intelligence tests were used to screen students for LDs. Students also completed a questionnaire measuring coping resources, namely student engagement and internal control as well as outcome measures of coping styles and inability to cope. Structural equation modelling revealed that student engagement promoted the use of productive coping strategies for both groups and that this relationship was partially mediated by internal control. Internal control also partially mediated the relationship between student engagement and non productive coping for students without LDs. Furthermore, less reliance on productive and greater reliance on non productive coping strategies, respectively, predicted more of a tendency to not cope or give up in both groups.