The purpose of the present study is to investigate the emotional consequences of dyslexia and its impact on self-esteem in adolescents aged 12-18. Journal articles published between 01-01-2010 and 28-02-2021 were searched in the databases of Eric, PubMed, Science Direct, Springer Link, and Wiley Online Library with a combination of terms. Nine journal articles were included and all studies were quality assessed. Dyslexia, although a risk factor for evoking negative emotional effects and low self-esteem, tends not to be considered as a deficit and negative aspect, as an aspect of everyday life. The effects of dyslexia on emotions and on self-esteem seem to be the result of interaction between the individual and institutional, educational, and social factors, as well as the school setting and the ergonomic environment. The chapter provides the limitations, the practical implications, and the directions for future research.
TopIntroduction
Dyslexia is a specific learning disorder with a neurobiological substrate (Habib, 2021). It is characterized by difficulties in accurate and fluent word recognition, poor spelling and decoding abilities (Peterson & Pennington, 2015). It also causes writing difficulties that persist during adolescence and adulthood (Nielsen et al., 2016), despite adequate intelligence, age-appropriate education and the absence of sensory deficits (APA, 2013), as well as reduced organizational skills, reduced attention and inability to manage time (Humphrey, 2002). In addition, children with dyslexia often demonstrate problems in the executive function, such as planning, problem-solving, working memory and organization (Akyurek & Bumin, 2019).
According to modern educational systems, reading is one of the most essential skills and the constant expectation of failure in reading in students with dyslexia is associated with serious emotional consequences (Jordan & Dyer, 2017; Novita et al., 2019) or low quality of life (Matteucci et al., 2019; Sakiz et al., 2015). More specifically, students experience frustration, feelings of inferiority, lack of independence and isolation (Karande & Venkataraman, 2012; Riddick, 2012; Sako, 2016), internalization problems, anxiety, depression, stress, low self-esteem, behavioral problems (Espin et al., 2019; Leitao et al., 2017, Livingston et al., 2018; Novita, 2016), stigma (Lithari, 2019), psychophysiological reactions (Tobia et al., 2015), difficulties in regulating emotions and socializing with their peers, denial, isolation (Kjeldsen et al., 2019; Majorano et al., 2016), less hope, less enjoyment (Sainio et al., 2019) problems of externalization, while they also become victims of bullying (Andreou et al., 2013; Boyes et al., 2020) and in more serious cases they adopt self-directed attitudes such as thoughts of self-harm and suicide (Alexander-Passe, 2015). In some cases, they dropout school (Korhonen et al., 2014) and in adult life they may experience unemployment and economic hardship (Pape et al., 2011).