Coping with distance learning during COVID-19 and its impact on students' emotional experiences: Differences between students with and without special education needs

Given the almost 2-year COVID-19 school-related closure in Mexico, children and adolescents have experienced a negative impact not only on their learning, but as well as on their mental health and well-being. Although international research has shown that distant learning as a response to the COVID-19 school-related closures has severely affected students with special education needs, there is still a lack of studies conducted in Mexico. Thus, this study attempts to tackle this gap by exploring how Mexican students with and without special education needs coped with distance learning as well as its impact on their emotional experiences. A total of 293 Mexican lower secondary students participated in the study. Independent sample t-tests indicated that, in comparison with students without special needs, students with special needs coped significantly worse during distance learning as well as had higher levels of negative activation. Additionally, multiple linear regression analyses revealed that students' self-efficacy functioned as an important coping mechanism. Implications of the results, as well as further lines of research are discussed.