Abstract:

Pupils with special educational needs are more frequently confronted with experiencing more failure at school than other students. We assume that high stress and perception of one’s own lack of ability may cause different behavior in stress situations and affect pupils’ attitudes towards school and learning. The primary purpose of the study was to determine the differences in the strategies preferred when coping with stress situations in students with ADHD and pupils from standard population. We also studied if any of the coping strategies were associated with attitude towards school or motivation to learn in both groups of pupils. Coping strategies were measured by administering Children's Coping Strategies Checklist (CCSC-R1), which is based on a four-factor model that divides basic behaviors in stress situations into active coping, distraction strategy, avoidance strategy, and support seeking coping strategies. Motivation to learn and school connectedness was measured by eight items created by authors. Cronbach’s alpha for both scales was higher than 0.810. The participants were 944 pupils, 4th graders at elementary schools in Slovakia. Of the entire sample, 25 pupils were children diagnosed with ADHD, 804 pupils were students from standard population, and 115 pupils were students with different special educational needs. There were significant differences between groups of pupils in the use of distraction strategies only. Identical scores were recorded for active coping strategies, avoidance strategies, and support seeking strategies. Pupils diagnosed with ADHD more often turn their attention from an unpleasant emotion to a funnier stimulus, such as physical activity, than their counterparts from standard population. Pupils from standard population showed a significant relationship between active coping strategies, motivation to learn, and attitude towards school. However, pupils with ADHD did not show such relationship. Coping strategies appear to be predictors of the motivation to learn and the attitude towards schools in pupils from standard population. The presence of deficit, for instance, among children diagnosed with ADHD, is associated with experiencing stress situations. Therefore, the model of solving stress situations and the association between coping strategies and the attitude of pupils towards learning is most likely determined by other factors as well.

Keywords:

Pupils with special education needs, coping strategies, motivation to learn, inclusive education.