Family Environment in Children With Hearing Aids and Cochlear Implants: Associations With Spoken Language, Psychosocial Functioning, and Cognitive Development.
Rachael Frush Holt, Jessica Beer, William G Kronenberger and 3 others
PMID 31688320WHAT IT FOUND
Family environments were mostly similar across normal-hearing, hearing-aid and cochlear-implant groups.
In children with hearing loss, enriched safe homes, low conflict, supportive interaction and shared recreation went with better language, behaviour and self-control.
Key findings
01In children with hearing loss, enriched homes, learning materials and lower family conflict were associated with better spoken language and receptive vocabulary, while safer homes were associated with better receptive vocabulary.
02Families that emphasized joint recreational activities had children with better social skills, especially cooperation, responsibility and empathy.
03Parents reported better working memory and inhibitory control in children from enriched homes and families that supported one another and encouraged open expression.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study included few children in each group, and this limited statistical power. The normal-hearing and hearing-aid groups differed in age, and therapy history and family background were not matched, so group differences cannot be separated from these factors. The design was correlational and measured family environment and outcomes at the same time, so it cannot show cause. Many outcomes and family subscales were tested, and this raises the chance of chance findings. Different versions of the home environment measure were used for younger and older children, and this limits comparisons across subdomains. Psychosocial and executive function outcomes came mainly from parent report, not direct child testing.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that enriched homes, low conflict or supportive family interaction cause better language, behaviour or self-control. The study measured family environment and outcomes at the same time, included few participants, and cannot separate therapy amount or family background from home factors.