Evaluation of emotional and psycholinguistic problems in deaf and hard-of-hearing students in the Canary Islands

Abstract

Objectives: The current study evaluated deaf and hard-of-hearing students' mental health in terms of emotional and behavioral strengths and difficulties, as measured by the SDQ in the Canary Islands. Furthermore, it evaluated the students’ psycholinguistic abilities using the Spanish version of the ITPA. Methods: The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) was used to assess school children problems. The Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities measured student spoken and written linguistic abilities. Results: Student self-reports yielded different SDQ scores to parent and teacher reports. Student spoken and written linguistic abilities varied according to ten covariates. Discussion: Perceptions about the mental health of children differed according to the groups studied. Perceptions about student abilities in the classroom were different, particularly the ability to reproduce sequences of complex and non-significant figures by memory. Conclusion: Two outcomes emerged: a) conduct problems were the SDQ subscale that most distinguished children with cochlear implants from those with hearing aids, and b) tutor and specialist teacher experience appeared as the decisive influencing students’ psycholinguistic abilities.

Keywords

• Students
• Cochlear implants
• Hearing aids
• SDQ
• ITPA