-
Stress and Coping in Hearing Mothers of Children With Hearing Loss: Factors Affecting Mother and Child Adjustment
- American Annals of the Deaf
- Gallaudet University Press
- Volume 144, Number 1, March 1999
- pp. 7-18
- 10.1353/aad.2012.0153
- Article
- Additional Information
- Purchase/rental options available:
The present study examines maternal and child adjustment as a result of the application of a stress and coping model (Folkman, Schaefer, & Lazarus 1979) to factors associated with having a school-aged child with a hearing loss. Thirty-six hearing mothers of children with hearing loss participated in the study. Information was gathered through parent and teacher questionnaires and home interviews and observations. Results indicated that ( a ) social support emerged as an important predictor of maternal adjustment as well as a buffer between current life stress and maternal adjustment, and ( b ) maternal problem-solving skill emerged as a significant predictor of child adjustment and as a mediating factor between child's age and teacher rating of child adjustment. The discussion focuses on possible explanations for these findings, the utility of a competency-based rather than psychopathology-based perspective in understanding parent and child outcomes, and implications for intervention strategies.