Introduction: Developmental dyslexia affects 3–18% of the population. The consequences are not only in difficulties in reading and writing, but also emotional and motivational problems that persist into adult life. Many studies confirm that people with dyslexia cope worse than those without.
The aim of this research is to determine if young adults with developmental dyslexia differ from their non-dyslectic peers in terms of anxiety and coping strategies, as well as to verify if there are differences in the relationship of these variables for adults with dyslexia and without.
Materials and methods: 180 young adults (19–28 years old) were examined, 90 with dyslexia, 90 without dyslexia, using:
1) demographic survey, 2) Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS) by Endler and Parker, 3) State-Trait Anxiety Inventory by Spielberger et al.
Results: Research does not draw a distinction between young adults with dyslexia and those without in terms of levels of anxiety and styles of coping with stress. Anxiety-trait is significantly associated with the styles of coping with stress. A higher level of anxiety-trait determines a higher intensity of styles focused on emotions and avoidance, a low level of anxiety-trait is associated with a task-oriented copying style. In both the compared groups, the anxiety-trait had a similar impact on the strategy of coping with stress.
Conclusion: Young adults with dyslexia do not show a higher level of anxiety than those without. They also do not reveal a greater intensity of maladaptive styles of coping with stress.
