Self-perception, self-regulation and metacognition in adolescents with intellectual disability

• We study self-perception, self-regulation, metacognition in intellectually disabled children.
• Self-regulation, metacognition are lower in the group with ID than in typical group.
• The three processes vary depending on their mental age and verbal comprehension.
• Some self-perceived competences are linked to self-regulatory, metacognitive strategies.
• These links differ in the two groups.

This study compares self-perception of competences in 28 typically developing children (TD) aged 7–9 years and 32 adolescents with intellectual disability (ID) aged 11–16 years in special school, matched for mental age (MA). The links between self-perception, self-regulation in problem-solving and metacognition are investigated. Overall self-perception and self-perception of competences by domain do not differ significantly between the two groups. Self-perception of competences in specific domains, self-regulation and metacognition vary depending on MA and verbal comprehension in the two groups. ID adolescents attribute more importance to social acceptance than TD children. In both groups, positive links are identified between self-perception and importance attributed to domains. Performance, self-regulation and metacognition are lower in ID adolescents than in TD children. Positive links are obtained between self-perception of competences in specific domains and certain self-regulatory and metacognitive strategies, although these links differ in the two groups.