The relationship between parenting styles and hearing development in children with cochlear implants

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between parenting styles and hearing skills in children with hearing loss who use cochlear implants. Methods This is an observational analytical study. The participants were the children’s main caregivers divided into a study group (N=50) and a control group (N=28). The children’s ages were between 3 and 7 years old. Subjects in the study group provided a past medical history (PMH), and completed the Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire (PSDQ) and the Infant-Toddler Meaningful Auditory Integration Scale (IT-MAIS) or the Meaningful Auditory Integration Scale (MAIS). Subjects in the control group also provided a PMH and completed the PSDQ. The Mann Whitney test, the Spearman coefficient, and the Kruskal-Wallis test were used for data analysis, utilizing the JASP 0.8 and SPSS 23 softwares. Results Results showed that The authoritarian parenting style and punishment dimension revealed a statistical significance, with higher scores for children with altered auditory development. Conclusion It was concluded that the practice of authoritarian parenting style with punitive dimensions and physical coercion were related to altered hearing development. Regulation dimension presented a significant correlation with hearing development. The outcome suggested the importance of psychotherapeutic strategies for caregivers who are responsible for children with hearing loss.