Parental stress among parents of toddlers with moderate hearing loss.
Moderate hearing loss does not guarantee high parent stress—watch for language or social delays and low support, then act fast.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Researchers asked 30 parents of toddlers with moderate hearing loss to fill out stress surveys. They compared the scores with 30 parents of hearing toddlers who were the same age.
Parents rated stress from daily hassles, child behavior, and social support. Kids also got quick tests for language and social-emotional skills.
What they found
Both groups scored the same on overall stress. Hearing loss alone did not raise stress levels.
Inside the hearing-loss group, stress only jumped when kids had weak language or social skills. Low parent support also pushed stress higher.
How this fits with other research
Hinton et al. (2017) ran an online Triple P course for parents of toddlers with mixed disabilities. After the course, parents felt less stressed and more confident. Their trial extends this study by showing you can lower stress with telehealth coaching.
D'Elia et al. (2014) gave preschoolers with autism a low-intensity TEACCH program. Parent stress dropped after the kids learned new skills. This seems to clash with the null group result here, but the difference is simple: TEACCH targeted child skills first, and stress fell as a side effect.
Tassé et al. (2013) tracked adults with Down syndrome for 22 years. When parents had better mental health, the adults had better jobs and lower dementia risk. Both papers agree: parent well-being and child progress rise together.
Why it matters
Screen language and social skills first, not hearing level. If those scores lag, add parent support or skill teaching right away. A short telehealth class like Triple P or a targeted preschool plan can cut stress without long waitlists.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to examine parental stress in parents of toddlers with moderate hearing loss compared to hearing controls. Furthermore, the associations between parental stress and child- and parent-related factors such as language, social-emotional functioning and social support were examined. DESIGN: The study sample consisted of 30 toddlers with moderate hearing loss and 30 hearing children (mean age 27.4 months). The two groups were compared using the Nijmegen Parenting Stress Index (NPSI) and parent-reports to rate the amount of social support and the children's social-emotional functioning. Receptive and expressive language tests were administered to the children to examine their language ability. RESULTS: Parents of toddlers with moderate hearing loss reported comparable levels of parental stress to parents of hearing children. Individual differences in parental stress were related to child- and parent-related factors. Poorer social-emotional functioning and language ability of the child were related to higher stress levels in parents. Parents who experienced less social support reported higher stress levels. CONCLUSIONS: Parents of toddlers with moderate hearing loss experience no more parental stress than parents of hearing children on average. Given parental stress was found to be related to poorer child functioning, early interventionists should be aware of signs of elevated stress levels in parents.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2016 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2016.03.008