Bidirectional Dependency of Developmental and Social Difficulties in Hearing Impaired Children on the Mother’s State Anxiety

Abstract

Congenital hearing impairment has a negative effect on the social and communication skills in the majority of children. We compared the development of children with various levels of hearing loss who were supplied with hearing aids and children with cochlear implants and those with no hearing problems. We verified the hypothesis about the bidirectional dependency relationship between the tested variables: the influence of mothers' anxiety on their hearing impaired children's development and the influence of the children's developmental level on the anxiety level of their mothers. The participants were 94 children aged 12 to 24 months with various levels of hearing loss corrected with hearing aids or cochlear implants as well as their mothers. The level of anxiety in mothers was assessed using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). A cause and effect relationship was shown between the child's hearing loss and their development in the communicative area as well as in the social and emotional area. It was found that children with profound hearing impairment with a cochlear implant functioned better than the group of children with similar or lower hearing impairment using hearing aids. The mothers' anxiety conditioned the child's poorer development, and the child's delayed development had an influence on increasing the anxiety level in mothers. The level of profoundness of hearing loss weakens communicative as well as social and emotional development of children. There exists a bidirectional relationship between mothers' anxiety and their children's development. Keywords Hearing impairment • Stress • Mothers' anxiety • Children's development • Cochlear implant

Socio-Emotional Development of Children with Cochlear Implant: A Systematic Review

“…In contrast to the eight studies that reported positive social and emotional skills with peers in the children with CI, samples from the remaining seven studies reported underprivileged results of socio-emotional functioning among preschoolers with CI compared to their peers ( 5 , 35 – 40 ). In these studies, preschoolers’ ages ranged 2 years old–6 years old and their social skills impairment were studied using the quasi-experiment, survey, causal-comparative and correlational studies.…”

“…Ten studies included both preschool- and school-aged children ( 32 , 37 – 38 , 44 , 48 – 49 , 53 , 56 – 57 , 62 ). Twenty-eight studies explicitly included either preschoolers ( 5 , 27 – 29 , 30 – 31 , 33 – 36 , 39 – 40 ) or school-aged children ( 38 , 41 – 43 , 46 – 47 , 50 – 52 , 54 – 55 , 58 – 61 , 63 ). For the other six studies, the age range was not reported, however mean age was provided frequently ( 5 , 27 , 31 , 42 , 52 , 56 ).…”

“…For the other six studies, the age range was not reported, however mean age was provided frequently ( 5 , 27 , 31 , 42 , 52 , 56 ). Six studies provided outcomes of social competence only ( 28 , 30 , 36 , 44 , 53 , 59 ), 13 studies provided emotional functioning only ( 5 , 31 , 35 , 37 , 42 – 43 , 48 , 52 , 54 – 55 , 58 , 61 , 63 ), whilst the remaining 19 studies provided a combination of social competence and emotional functioning for pre-school children ( 27 , 29 , 32 – 34 , 38 – 40 ) and school-aged children ( 38 , 41 , 46 – 47 , 49 – 51 , 56 – 57 , 60 , 62 ). Tables 3 and 4 included a comprehensive summary of studies including the authors, measures, research designs, samples, findings and limitations of the described socio-emotional development among children with CI.…”

“…In these studies, preschoolers’ ages ranged 2 years old–6 years old and their social skills impairment were studied using the quasi-experiment, survey, causal-comparative and correlational studies. The standardised developmental (Child development inventory [CDI]; INSITE developmental scale) ( 36 , 39 – 40 ) and behavioural tests (Strengths and difficulties questionnaire [SDQ]; Behaviour assessment system for children-2nd edition [BASC-2]) ( 36 , 38 – 39 ) were administered to determine the poor socio-emotional development among these children with CI. Delayed facial expression identification ( 5 , 37 ), poor emotional regulation strategies ( 36 ) and the limited ability to understand conveyed messages ( 40 ) contributed to low social competency among these preschoolers with CI.…”

Coping de familiares de crianças usuárias de dispositivos auditivos implantáveis

“…O domínio "reações de estresse dos pais" apresentou a segunda maior vulnerabilidade por domínio para a população deste estudo. Pesquisas indicam que o desenvolvimento da criança é um fator condicionante para o surgimento de ansiedade das mães (Pilarska & Sekula, 2019). No caso de mães de filhos que possuem DA, são observados níveis mais elevados de estresse (Levinger & Alhuzail, 2018).…”