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School Experiences and Anxiety Trajectories Among Youth with Intellectual Disabilities
Dubé, Céleste Morin, Alexandre J. S. Olivier, Elizabeth Gilbert, William Tracey, Danielle Craven, Rhonda Gai Maiano, Christophe
Dubé, Céleste
Morin, Alexandre J. S.
Olivier, Elizabeth
Gilbert, William
Tracey, Danielle
Craven, Rhonda Gai
Maiano, Christophe
Abstract
This study investigated how the school experiences and personal characteristics of youth with Intellectual Disabilities (ID) contribute to their longitudinal trajectories of anxiety. To this end, we relied on a sample of 390 youth with mild (48.2%) to moderate (51.8%) levels of ID, aged from 11 to 22 (M = 15.70), and recruited in Canada (n = 140) and Australia (n = 250). Across three yearly time points, all participants completed self-report measures of anxiety, school climate, and victimization. Our results revealed a slight normative decrease in anxiety over time and showed that experiences of school victimization were associated with higher levels of anxiety (initially and momentarily) and increases in victimization were accompanied by increases in anxiety over time. Perceptions of attending a school that fosters security and promotes learning also tended to be accompanied by lower levels of anxiety (initially and momentarily). Momentary increases in perceptions of attending a school that fosters positive peer interactions were associated with momentary decreases in anxiety, whereas momentary increases in perceptions of attending a school characterized by positive teacher-student relationships and an equitable treatment of all students both led to small momentary increases in anxiety once all other components of student school experiences were considered. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.
Keywords
Intellectual disabilities, Anxiety trajectories, School experiences, School climate, Victimization, Special education needs, Inclusive education
Date
2023
Type
Journal article
Journal
Book
Volume
Issue
Page Range
1-19
Article Number
ACU Department
Institute for Positive Psychology and Education
Faculty of Education and Arts
Faculty of Education and Arts
Relation URI
Event URL
Open Access Status
Published as ‘gold’ (paid) open access
License
All rights reserved
File Access
Controlled
Notes
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2023.
This study was supported by grants from the Australian Research Council (DP140101559) and from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (430-2012-0091, 435-2014-0909). In the preparation of this paper, the second author was also supported by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (435-2018-0368).
This study was supported by grants from the Australian Research Council (DP140101559) and from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (430-2012-0091, 435-2014-0909). In the preparation of this paper, the second author was also supported by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (435-2018-0368).