The Effect of Attributional Retraining Method on Learned Helplessness and Academic Self-Concept and Academic Procrastination of Students with Specific Learning Disabilities

Behjati  Ardakani, Fatemeh; Rezapooor, Zeinab; Rezapour Mirsaleh, Yaser

doi:10.22098/jld.2025.17704.2261

The Effect of Attributional Retraining Method on Learned Helplessness and Academic Self-Concept and Academic Procrastination of Students with Specific Learning Disabilities

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

¹ Associate of professor of counseling of department of social &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;humanities, Ardakan university ,Ardakan ,Iran.

² Master student, Department of Pcycology, Ardakan University, Ardakan, Iran

³ Associate Professor, Department of Counseling, Ardakan University, Ardakan, Iran

10.22098/jld.2025.17704.2261

Abstract

Objective: Students with specific learning disabilities have pessimistic attributional styles due to their continuous experience of academic failures. This study was conducted with the purpose of investigating the effect of attributional reconstruction method on learned helplessness, academic self-concept, and academic procrastination of students with specific learning disabilities.
Methods: The research method was a quasi-experimental design with a pre-test-post-test design with a control group. The statistical population included students with specific learning disabilities in elementary school in Qom who were receiving education in learning disability centers. For the research sample, 30 students who obtained the lowest score in the attributional styles questionnaire were selected using the available sampling method and randomly assigned to two experimental and control groups. The experimental group received the cognitive retraining program in 11 session’s 45-minute and the control group only participated in center's conventional programs. Research tools included questionnaires attributional styles (Kaslow & Tannenbaum, 1996), learned help‌lessness (Quinless & McDermott, 1982), academic self-concept (Mendaglio & Pyryt, 1995), academic procrastination (Solomon & Rothblum, 1984), which were administered in two stages: pre-test and post-test. Research data were analyzed using analysis of covariance in SPSS-26 software.
Results: The results showed that attributional retraining training was effective in increasing academic self-concept and reducing learned helplessness and academic procrastination in students with specific learning disabilities (P<0.01).
Conclusion: Therefore, the attributional reconstruction training program can be used to improve academic self-concept and reduce learned helplessness and academic procrastination in students with specific learning disorders.

Keywords