Implications of Childhood Learning Disabilities and Adult-Age Mental Health Problems, Lack of Education, and Unemployment

Event details

The seminar will talk about a study on the impact of diverse subtypes of learning disabilities (LD) on adult-age mental health, education, and employment.

In the study, a group of individuals diagnosed in childhood with LD is compared with a matched control group without a known history of LD. Subgroups of LD were studied: reading disability (RD), math disability (MD), and comorbid RD-MD. The study used archived data which were merged with lifelong register data on sickness allowances/disability pensions granted on the basis of psychiatric illnesses, reimbursements for psychoactive medication, having a degree after compulsory education, and having received unemployment allowances. Differences emerged between the LD and control groups in all outcomes, suggesting that a higher proportion of individuals with LD had mental health problems compared to the control group, and a notable share of them had not attained a degree after compulsory education and had been unemployed for an extended period. Interactions between LD-subgroup and gender suggested that MD (with/without RD) may pose a higher risk than RD for females, whereas RD seemed to pose a risk for males. The findings suggest the need for researchers, clinicians, and those involved with adult education to consider mental health and educational problems among individuals with a known history of LD.

Event materials

• Event presentation slides

Enquiries

For enquiries please contact Research Centre for Global Learning (GLEA)

globallearning@coventry.ac.uk

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