PARENTING STYLES, EMOTION REGULATION, AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN IRANIAN CHILDREN WITH SPECIFIC LEARNING DISORDER (SLD)

Abstract

Children with Specific Learning Disorder (SLD) often experience academic difficulties alongside emotional and behavioral challenges. This study examined a sequential model linking parenting styles with academic achievement through emotion regulation and emotional adjustment in 450 Iranian elementary-school children with SLD aged 8–11 years from Tehran, Mazandaran, and Sistan and Baluchestan. Confirmatory factor analysis, structural equation modeling, bootstrap estimation, and multigroup analyses were conducted. The measurement model showed good fit, χ²(32) = 54.80, p = .007, CFI = .987, TLI = .983, RMSEA = .041, and SRMR = .031. Parenting styles were associated with emotion regulation (β = .48), emotion regulation with emotional adjustment (β = .54), and emotional adjustment with academic achievement (β = .43; all ps < .001). Parenting styles also showed a direct association with academic achievement (β = .15, p = .001). The sequential indirect association was significant (β = .11, 95% BC CI [.06, .17]). Measurement invariance was supported across provinces, whereas structural coefficients differed significantly across groups. Human Figure Drawing indicators were analyzed separately and showed negative correlations with key outcomes. Findings support integrating family involvement and emotion-regulation support into special-education services for children with SLD.

Keywords: specific learning disorder, parenting styles, emotion regulation, emotional adjustment, academic achievement

Ethics and Conflict of Interest

All ethical rules were observed at each stage of the research. The author declares that he acted in accordance with ethical rules in all processes of the research. The author declares that they do not have any conflict of interest with other persons, institutions or organizations.

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