Concern for Others: A Study on Empathy in Toddlers with Moderate Hearing Loss

Abstract

Empathy, the ability to feel the emotions of others and respond affectively to these emotions, is an important factor in the development of social competence. The purpose of this study was to examine empathy levels in toddlers with moderate hearing loss (MHL) compared to toddlers with no hearing loss (nHL), and to explore the relation between language ability and empathy. We focused on affective empathy and the precursors of cognitive empathy. A total of 23 toddlers with MHL and 21 toddlers with nHL participated in the study. Parent report (ITSEA) and observation measures were used to rate the toddlers' levels of empathy. The results showed that the levels of affective empathy in toddlers with MHL and with nHL were similar on both measures. Toddlers with MHL lagged behind their peers with nHL on some precursors of cognitive empathy (intention understanding and joint attention). Language ability was unrelated to empathy levels in both groups of toddlers. In conclusion, toddlers with MHL seem to be at risk for problems in their empathy development. Although they are aware of the emotions of others, the development of more complex skills needed for an adequate empathic response is delayed in comparison with their hearing peers.

Talk with me! Parental linguistic input to toddlers with moderate hearing loss

“…The findings concerning mental state language are also of interest because of the association with social-emotional development (Devine & Hughes, 2018;Drummond et al, 2014;Dunn et al, 1991;Meins, 2013;Peterson & Slaughter, 2003). Since children with MHL more often encounter social-emotional difficulties (Dirks et al, 2017;Laugen et al, 2016Laugen et al, , 2017Netten et al, 2015Netten et al, , 2017, early interventionists should guide parents in talking about beliefs, knowledge, desires, and emotions while interacting with their chilren.…”

“…The exposure to this complex abstract language is not only beneficial for children's language development, but also for their social-emotional development. This is especially of interest in children with MHL since they encounter difficulties in their social-emotional development (Dirks et al, 2017;Laugen, Jacobsen, Rieffe, & Wichstrom, 2016Netten et al, 2015Netten et al, , 2017. Talking with children about their own and others' thoughts, desires, and feelings promotes their social-emotional development (Devine & Hughes, 2018;Drummond, Paul, Waugh, Hammond, & Brownell, 2014;Dunn, Brown, Slomkowski, Tesla, & Youngblade, 1991;Meins, 2013;Peterson & Slaughter, 2003).…”

“…This study is part of a larger study on the psychosocial functioning of toddlers with MHL and their families (Dirks & Rieffe, 2019;Dirks, Uilenburg, & Rieffe, 2016;Dirks et al, 2017). In total, 42 children between 29 and 33 months of age participated in this study.…”

The Developmental Trajectory of Empathy and Its Association with Early Symptoms of Psychopathology in Children with and without Hearing Loss

“…When different types of empathic skills were investigated separately, the results were mixed. The levels of affective empathy were not found to be different between children with and without hearing loss (Dirks et al, 2017 ; Netten et al, 2015 ). Yet, parent reports and self-reports indicated that children with hearing loss showed fewer prosocial actions (Dirks et al, 2017 ; Netten et al, 2015 ) while looking more often at the person experiencing an emotion than TH children during an observational task (Netten et al, 2015 ).…”

“…The levels of affective empathy were not found to be different between children with and without hearing loss (Dirks et al, 2017 ; Netten et al, 2015 ). Yet, parent reports and self-reports indicated that children with hearing loss showed fewer prosocial actions (Dirks et al, 2017 ; Netten et al, 2015 ) while looking more often at the person experiencing an emotion than TH children during an observational task (Netten et al, 2015 ). Preschoolers with a CI also exhibited difficulties in acknowledging others’ emotion expressions (Wang et al, 2019 ; Wang et al, 2016 ).…”