Abstract:The Self-Perception Profile for Children (SPPC) is a measure which allows one to assess children's self-concept. Our article presents this instrument's psychometric properties within a Polish sample. In our study we tested 432 elementary school students and 14 form teachers. As validity indicators we used the Teacher's Rating Scale of Child's Actual Behavior (TRS) and the average school grade for the previous semester. The Polish version of SPPC yielded good psychometric properties. The instrument's factorial structure paralleled the structure of the original version. Reliability was high both in terms of internal consistency and test-retest results. Scale validity was confirmed in the correlational analysis. Boys scored higher than girls in the Physical Appearance and Global Self-Worth subscales but lower in the Behavioral Conduct subscale. Younger children scored higher than older children in the Scholastic Competence, Physical Appearance, and Global Self-Worth subscales. Judgments on children's physical appearance were the best predictor of their global self-worth.

Zigler’s theory assumes that due to frequent negative personal experiences, persons with intellectual disability are likely to develop specific personality traits which hinder their functioning. The Edward Zigler-Yale Personality Questionnaire (EZPQ) is a measure that allows these traits to be assessed. However, studies in which the measure was used report problems with its factorial structure and reliability. We evaluated the psychometric properties of EZPQ in three consecutive studies conducted in three different samples of 336, 330, and 310 students with mild and moderate intellectual disability. By making successive modifications to the original version of the EZPQ, we developed and validated a revised four-factor version of the questionnaire that consists of 16 items (EZPQ-16R). The factors we identified corresponded to the following traits: readiness to explore, assignment alacrity, negative-reaction tendency, and support dependence. The reliability of the new gauge was high, and its validity was confirmed in correlational analyses with other measures of personality and adjustment. The four traits that were identified are directly derived from Zigler’s theory, thus giving a new perspective on the assessment of specific personality traits in persons with intellectual disability.

Persons with intellectual disability are a group at risk of being exposed to overly demanding problem-solving situations, which may produce learned helplessness. The research was based on the informational model of learned helplessness. The consequences of exposure to an unsolvable task and the ability to recognize the symptoms of cognitive exhaustion were tested in 120 students with mild intellectual disability. After the exposure to the unsolvable task, persons in the experimental group obtained lower results than the control group in the escape/avoidance learning task, but a similar result was found in the divergent thinking fluency task. Also, participants in the experimental group had difficulties recognizing the symptoms of the cognitive exhaustion state. After a week’s time, the difference in escape/avoidance learning performance was still observed. The results indicate that exposure to unsolvable tasks may negatively influence the cognitive performance in persons with intellectual disability, although those persons may not identify the cognitive state related to lowered performance.

Background: In this study we aimed to assess symptoms of anxiety and depression in persons with developmental disabilities during COVID-19 lockdown.Method: Soon after school closures related to the pandemic, we conducted telephone interviews with 64 vocational school students with developmental disabilities, the majority of whom had mild intellectual disability, and their parents. The parents were asked about stressful events experienced during lockdown. The students were assessed with screening measures for anxiety (GAD-7) and depression (PHQ-8).Results: Over one third of the tested students reported mild or more severe symptoms of anxiety and depression, and girls were more affected than boys. The number of experienced lockdown inconveniences predicted the severity of depression symptoms in girls.Discussion: The high prevalence of symptoms of anxiety and depression in persons with developmental disabilities indicates the need for screening studies and the provision of psychological help in situations such as the COVID-19 lockdown.