Subtypes of attachment security in school-age children with learning disabilities

This study explored children's secure attachment with both parents versus one parent, as well as the unique role of children's patterns of close relationships with father and mother, for a deeper understanding of maladjustment problems among children with learning disabilities (LD). Specifically, this study identified subgroups of children with different individual profiles and examined whether these profiles associated differently with children's self-rated loneliness, sense of coherence, hope, and effort, and with parent-rated externalizing/internalizing child behavior problems. Participants were 205 children (8-12 years of age), 107 with LD and 98 with typical development. Preliminary analyses indicated significant group differences on all but one of the children's measures. Results from using k-means clustering methods indicated four distinct clusters. Scheffe procedure validated the clusters, revealing significant intercluster differences on all but one of the children's socioemotional measures. Discussion focused on understanding different parent-child relationship patterns among these subgroups of school-age children with and without LD.