Comparison of Stress-Coping Mechanisms Among Students With and Without Specific Learning Disabilities

Abstract

Grounded in Lazarus and Folkman’s transactional model, this study examined differential stress-coping mechanisms among Taiwanese junior high school students ( N = 898; seventh–ninth grade; 55.8% male), comprising 491 typically developing students and 407 students with specific learning disabilities (SLDs) formally identified under Taiwan's Special Education Act. Results revealed that social support alleviated learning frustration in non-SLD students, but this effect was absent in SLD students. Learning frustration impaired self-efficacy in non-SLD students but directly impacted well-being in SLD students without affecting self-efficacy. Negative life events directly affected well-being only in SLD students. Social support mediated well-being through self-efficacy in both groups, whereas coping strategies showed stronger mediation effects in SLD students. These findings highlight distinct stress-coping pathways and inform differentiated, evidence-based interventions for students with SLD.