Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN.
Am J Audiol. 2020 Jun 8;29(2):110-119. doi: 10.1044/2019_AJA-19-00082. Epub 2020 Mar 17.
Purpose This study examined whether young children with normal hearing demonstrated negative attitudes toward peers wearing hearing aids, often described as the "hearing aid effect." The effect of age on these attitudes was also examined. Method Forty-five typically developing children with normal hearing, aged 6-11 years, were recruited to answer questions about and rate photos of children with and without hearing aids in areas of peer acceptance as well as physical and cognitive competence. Participants completed a forced-choice task, a perceived competence rating task, and a sociometric rating task. Results Children in this study perceived their peers who wore hearing aids as having less physical competence and less peer acceptance than peers without hearing aids, thus confirming a hearing aid effect in children as young as 6 years of age. Both younger and older children were more likely to choose pictures of children wearing hearing aids as having less peer acceptance than pictures of children who were not wearing hearing aids. Older children were also more likely to choose a picture of a child with hearing aids as having less physical competence than a picture of a child without hearing aids. Conclusion These findings should serve to alert professionals who work with children who have hearing loss that additional support and education might be warranted for these children and their peers with normal hearing.
目的 本研究旨在探讨听力正常的幼儿是否对佩戴助听器的同伴持有负面态度，这种态度通常被称为“助听器效应”。本研究还考察了年龄对这些态度的影响。 方法 本研究招募了 45 名听力正常、年龄在 6-11 岁的典型发育儿童，让他们回答有关佩戴和不佩戴助听器的儿童照片的问题，并对照片中的儿童进行同伴接受度以及身体和认知能力的评分。参与者完成了强制选择任务、感知能力评分任务和社会计量评分任务。 结果 本研究中的儿童认为佩戴助听器的同伴在身体能力和同伴接受度方面不如不佩戴助听器的同伴，从而证实了 6 岁儿童中存在助听器效应。无论是年龄较小的儿童还是年龄较大的儿童，他们更有可能选择佩戴助听器的儿童照片作为同伴接受度较低的照片，而不是不佩戴助听器的儿童照片。年龄较大的儿童也更有可能选择佩戴助听器的儿童照片作为身体能力较低的照片，而不是不佩戴助听器的儿童照片。 结论 这些发现应该提醒与听力损失儿童一起工作的专业人员，这些儿童及其听力正常的同伴可能需要额外的支持和教育。
