McAllister Anita, Rantala Leena, Jónsdóttir Valdís Ingibjörg
CLINTEC, Division of Speech and Language Pathology, Karolinska Institutet, Solna, Sweden.
Functional Area Speech and Language Pathology, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.
Front Psychol. 2019 Aug 21;10:1954. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01954. eCollection 2019.
High noise levels affect hearing, voice use, and communication. Several studies have reported high noise levels in preschools and impaired voice quality in children. Noise and poor listening conditions impair speech comprehension in children more than in adults and even more for children with hearing or language impairment, attention deficits, or another first language.
The aim of this study was to explore how children in Finland, Sweden, and Iceland describe the preschool environment in relation to noise, voice, and verbal communication; what were their experiences, knowledge and ideas in relation to voice, noise, and communication. Children's awareness of effects of noise, reactions, and coping strategies were also studied. In addition, country and gender differences were analyzed.
Eighteen Icelandic, 14 Finnish, and 16 Swedish children were interviewed using a common interview-guide. Swedish and Finnish children were interviewed in focus groups and Icelandic children individually. All interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed thematically by the native speaker. The interviews were translated to English to be re-analyzed for inter-judge reliability of identified themes. Inter-judge reliability was calculated using percentage absolute agreement.
The interviews resulted in 1052 utterances, 471 from focus groups, and 581 from individual interviews. Three themes were identified, , and with two to three subcategories. Inter-judge agreement for the themes was excellent, 92-98%. Experiences occurred in 55% of the utterances. The subcategories were bodily and emotional experiences and experiences of hearing and being heard. Environment occurred in 20% of the utterances, with subcategories indoor vs. outdoor and noise. Strategies was found in 15%, with subcategories games and problem oriented actions. The only significant difference between the countries was for the theme Strategies where the Swedish children produced more utterances than the Finnish. No gender differences were found.
Children are aware of high noise levels and mainly blame other children for making noise and shouting. They describe reactions and strategies related to noise like impaired communication and effects on hearing but are less aware of effects on voice. Expressed thoughts were similar across countries. No gender differences were found.
高噪音水平会影响听力、嗓音使用和交流。多项研究报告称，幼儿园存在高噪音水平，且儿童嗓音质量受损。与成人相比，噪音和不佳的听力条件对儿童言语理解的损害更大，对于有听力或语言障碍、注意力缺陷或使用其他第一语言的儿童而言更是如此。
本研究的目的是探讨芬兰、瑞典和冰岛的儿童如何描述幼儿园环境与噪音、嗓音及言语交流的关系；他们在嗓音、噪音和交流方面有哪些经历、知识和想法。同时也研究了儿童对噪音影响的认知、反应及应对策略。此外，还分析了国家和性别的差异。
使用通用访谈指南对18名冰岛儿童、14名芬兰儿童和16名瑞典儿童进行了访谈。瑞典和芬兰儿童以焦点小组形式接受访谈，冰岛儿童则单独接受访谈。所有访谈均逐字记录，并由母语人士进行主题分析。访谈内容被翻译成英文，以便对确定的主题进行重新分析以评估评判者间的信度。评判者间信度通过绝对一致百分比来计算。
访谈产生了1052条话语，其中471条来自焦点小组，581条来自个人访谈。确定了三个主题，每个主题有两到三个子类别。主题的评判者间一致性非常好，为92%-98%。经历出现在55%的话语中。子类别包括身体和情感体验以及听力和被倾听的体验。环境出现在20%的话语中，子类别包括室内与室外以及噪音。策略出现在15%的话语中，子类别包括游戏和以问题为导向的行动。国家之间唯一的显著差异在于主题“策略”，瑞典儿童产生的话语比芬兰儿童多。未发现性别差异。
儿童意识到高噪音水平，主要指责其他儿童制造噪音和大喊大叫。他们描述了与噪音相关的反应和策略，如交流受损和对听力的影响，但对嗓音影响的认识较少。各国表达的想法相似。未发现性别差异。
