Academic, social, and behavioral characteristics of high school students with emotional disturbances or learning disabilities

In this article, we examine similarities and differences in the academic, social, and behavioral skills of high school students with emotional disturbances (ED) and learning disabilities (LD). Two groups of high school students with ED (n = 45) and LD (n = 49) were compared on nine measures in academic, behavioral, and social domains using multivariate procedures. Results indicated that there were significant differences in the characteristics of these students, with seven of the original nine variables differentiating group membership. In general, adolescent students with LD exhibited higher levels of social competence and lower levels of behavioral problems as compared to adolescent students with ED. Findings also revealed that a substantial percentage of the variance (50%) between adolescents with ED and adolescents with LD could be explained. Furthermore, the variables in this model differentiated between these two groups, with 78.57% of students with ED and 78.95% of students with LD being correctly classified. Limitations of the study are discussed and directions for future research are offered.