Educational Support and the Choice of Metacognitive Reading Strategies Under Exam Stress Among Students With and Without Dyslexia

The aim of the study was to identify the determinants of dyslexic and non-dyslexic students’ choice of reading strategies for exams, as well as the mediating factors – in this case, exam stress – in the relationship between perceived educational support and the use of specific reading strategies. The study groups consisted of students diagnosed with dyslexia (N=540) and students without dyslexia (N=540), aged 14 to 15 years. The tools used in the study were the Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies Inventory, developed by Mokhtari and Reichard, the Students’ Perceived Sources of Test Anxiety, developed by Bonaccio and Reeve, and the Educational Support Questionnaire, developed by Gindrich. The study followed a correlational design. Descriptive statistics, Pearson’s r correlations, and regression analysis were used to analyze the results using model templates for PROCESS for SPSS and SAS (Hayes, 2018). The study established relationships between perceived educational support and the declared use of particular reading strategies (global, support, and reading problem-solving strategies) and stressors in exam situations. The results of the study indicate that only among dyslexic students was there a moderating role of exam stress in the relationship between perceived educational support and the declared choice of global reading strategies.