A comparative analysis of alexithymia, cognitive self-consciousness, and enthusiasm to school in students with and without specific learning disorders

The present study is conducted to compare alexithymia, cognitive self-consciousness, and enthusiasm to school in students with and without specific learning disorders. The research type is a causal-comparative and cross-sectional study. The research population includes all level 4 and 5 primary school students with and without certain learning disabilities living in Ardebil. Sixty students of levels 4 and 5 were selected using a random sampling method. To collect data, the questionnaire of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale, Wales’s self-report questionnaire, and enthusiasm to school questionnaire were used. The results of Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) indicated that there is a significant difference between students with and without certain learning disabilities in terms of alexithymia, cognitive self-consciousness, and enthusiasm to school. Findings of the current research are indicative of emotional abilities learning difficulties of students with certain learning disabilities. Students without certain learning disabilities have higher cognitive self-consciousness. Moreover, the average scores of students with certain learning disabilities in enthusiasm to school are significantly higher than the control group. According to the results, attention to psychological strategies for improving the alexithymia, cognitive self-consciousness, and enthusiasm to school in students with certain learning disabilities was suggested.