Psychosocial Development in a Danish Population of Children With Cochlear Implants and Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Children

Abstract

Research has shown a prevalence of psychosocial difficulties ranging from about 20% to 50% among children with hearing loss. This study evaluates the prevalence of psychosocial difficulties in a Danish population in relation to different explanatory variables. Five scales and questionnaires measuring sign language, spoken language, hearing abilities, and psychosocial difficulties were given to 334 children with hearing loss. Results show that the prevalence of psychosocial difficulties was 3.7 times greater compared with a group of hearing children. In the group of children with additional disabilities, the prevalence was 3 times greater compared with children without additional disabilities. If sign language and/or oral language abilities are good, the children do not have a substantially higher level of psychosocial difficulties than do hearing children. This study documents the importance of communication-no matter the modality or degree of hearing loss-for the psychosocial well-being of hearing-impaired children.

Mental health problems among 4–17-year-olds with hearing problems: results from a nationally representative study

“…Even with a broadly defined, parent-rated measure of hearing problems, these estimates are comparable to those reported by previous studies [5], though few have provided estimates by age. For 4-11 year olds, those with a hearing problem were 2-3 times as likely to have separation anxiety, generalised anxiety and ADHD as those without a hearing problem, and similarly 2 to 3 times as likely to have peer, emotional or hyperactivity problems as identified by the SDQ.…”

“…Previous research has consistently shown that children and young people with hearing problems have a higher risk of mental health problems than the general population, with prevalence estimates ranging from 20% to 50% [5]. These estimates have largely been based on clinical samples of children with severe hearing loss, using broad screeners of mental health problems, without full consideration of the range of child, family or school factors that can also contribute to mental health problems.…”

“…For other disorders, inclusion of other factors attenuated the findings, suggesting that much of the association between hearing loss and mental health problems can be attributed to child development and sociodemographic factors. These include communication problems, as has been highlighted in the literature previously [5,23], but also other factors such as parent psychological distress, financial strain and parent education level. There is limited research pertaining to why the families of children and young people with hearing problems may be more likely to have financial strain and psychological distress.…”

“…Comparing this proportion to population prevalence rates of less than 1% for mild to severe sensorineural loss [24], or the research suggesting that of the 2% of children who suffer a perforated tympanic membrane, 90% will also suffer a permanent mild-moderate hearing loss [27], we suggest that children and adolescents with mild-moderate hearing loss were more likely to be included than excluded, and that children with sensorineural or conductive hearing loss were both included in our sample. As previous studies have indicated that psychosocial difficulties are unrelated to the degree of hearing loss [5,6,22] it is unclear that any under-or overrepresentation of mild hearing loss would have substantial bearing on the results. Similarly, to our knowledge there is no literature that examines variation in the prevalence of mental health problems according to the onset, duration or etiology of hearing loss.…”

“…Most studies have shown that the extent of psychosocial difficulties are unrelated to the degree of hearing loss [5,6,22], although others have found that children with hearing aids had more symptoms of psychopathology than those with cochlear implants or their normally hearing peers despite children with cochlear implants having more severe hearing loss [23].…”