Mental Health and Self-Image Among Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children

Abstract

Mental health and self-image among deaf and hard of hearing children (ages 11–18 years) in southern Sweden was investigated. The children ( N = 111) attended special schools for the deaf ( n = 28), special schools for the hard of hearing ( n = 23), and regular schools where hard of hearing children were mainstreamed ( n = 60). The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (Goodman, 1997) was used to screen mental health and the “I Think I Am” questionnaire Ouvinen-Birgerstam (1982, 1984) to measure self-esteem. The study shows that hard of hearing children seem to do as well, as a group, as other children in Swedish society. Mean SDQ and ITIA scores indicated that the mainstreamed students and the students in special schools for the hard of hearing had higher levels of rated mental health and self-image than the students in schools for the deaf.

Deafness-related self-perceptions and psychological well-being in deaf adolescents with cochlear implants

“…This is in contrast to the findings of Mejstad et al (2009) andKeilmann et al (2007), who reported more positive self-image in children attending schools for the deaf compared with those at mainstream or special schools or units for the hard-of-hearing. However, this is likely to be in part a consequence of the different nature of the schools for the deaf in the studies: in ours the students used predominantly oral communication and the educational emphasis was on spoken English, whereas in the Mejstad et al study the students' communication mode was sign.…”

“…For example, it has been found that predominantly oral deaf children in mainstream schools have higher levels of social anxiety than predominantly signing Deaf 1 children attending Deaf schools (Manfredi, 1993) and that self-esteem is higher in deaf college students who have at least one deaf parent and sign compared with those with hearing parents, whether or not they sign (Crowe, 2003). The type of school attended by deaf children may also be important, but the evidence is mixed, with some studies reporting differences between mainstreamed children and those attending schools for the deaf but others failing to (Shaffer-Meyer, 1990;Van Gurp, 2001;Keilmann et al, 2007;Mejstad et al, 2009). However, school placement is often inextricably linked with degree of hearing loss, intellectual ability, and communication competence, factors that may be more relevant than the educational environment per se.…”

Sense of coherence, social networks, and mental health among children with a cochlear implant

“…The children in the present study did not report more mental ill-health than children in England. The present study indicates that mental health of Swedish children with a cochlear implant seems to be comparable also to community samples of children in the Nordic countries [42,48,49] as well as to a deaf and hard of hearing sample in Sweden [50].…”

Depression and Individuals with Hearing Loss: A Systematic Review

“…Among adolescents with hearing loss, studies of Van Gent et al [30] observed that there is a higher incidence of psychopathology in children and adolescents who experiences a severe degrees of hearing loss [30] while Mejstad et al also reported an association with gender (boys having more mental health problems than girls) [31]. Nevertheless, the specific age when this difference begins is controversial and other factors associated with depressive symptoms among adolescence seems to vary among different population [32,33].…”