Socio-Emotional Experiences and Wellbeing of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children and Their Parents before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) children in Victoria, Australia, were exposed to strict public health restrictions, including sustained lockdowns, during the COVID-19 pandemic. DHH children have higher health and socio-emotional needs than their hearing peers. We aimed to (1) describe the socio-emotional experiences of DHH children and their parents and (2) compare child and parent socio-emotional wellbeing, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Between May and September 2020, 497 (62%) parents of DHH children from the Victorian Childhood Hearing Longitudinal Databank completed an online survey. Measures were drawn from the CoRonavIruS Health Impact Survey (CRISIS) v3.0. Data were summarized using descriptive statistics to compare outcomes before and during the pandemic. Parents reported their children to have more negative socio-emotional wellbeing (mean emotions/worries score, EWS, changed from 0.76 pre-pandemic to 1.10 during the pandemic, mean difference 0.34, 95% CI: 0.28 to 0.39), regardless of the type or severity of hearing loss. Parents also had more negative socio-emotional wellbeing (mean EWS changed from 1.05 pre-pandemic to 1.43 during the pandemic, mean difference 0.38, 95% CI: 0.31 to 0.44). Negative socio-emotional experiences co-occurred with large social changes during the pandemic. Additional services should support the socio-emotional wellbeing of DHH children during significant adverse childhood experiences.

Working Memory and Language Relate to Report of Socio-Emotional Functioning in Children with Hearing Loss

“…By extension, loss of auditory input would impact a variety of later outcomes, including cognitive, linguistic, and socio-emotional functioning. This is corroborated by findings indicating a significantly higher rate of socio-emotional and behavioral problems in children with hearing loss [3], and differences in neural dynamics and processing when compared to typically hearing peers [4].…”

“…To better understand the relationships between these areas of development in children with hearing loss, outcomes and cognitive profiles for these children should be examined. Published literature on outcomes for children with cochlear implants (CIs) and hearing aids has been highly variable, with outcomes for children with hearing loss being similar, poorer, or stronger than those of their typically hearing peers depending on the domain [ 1 , 3 , 5 , 6 , 7 ]. Studies investigating the cognitive profiles of children with hearing loss document this variability; some studies report lower scores on measures of verbal abilities [ 1 , 5 , 6 , 7 ] and working memory tasks [ 1 , 8 , 9 ] compared to typically hearing peers, while others report commensurate scores on similar measures [ 1 , 4 ].…”