Parents Do Understand: Agreement Between Self- and Parent-Reported Psychosocial Adjustment in Adolescents With Cochlear Implants

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this study was to examine self- and parent-reporting of social, emotional, and behavioral adjustment in adolescents with and without prelingual hearing loss and cochlear implants. Method: The self- and parent-completed Behavior Assessment System for Children was used to assess social, emotional, and behavioral adjustment in adolescents aged 12-19 years. Sixty-five adolescents and their parents were recruited from the Midwestern United States and participated in the present study. Analyses were conducted to (a) examine self-reported social, emotional, and behavioral adjustment in adolescents with cochlear implants (ACIs) as compared to adolescents with hearing (AH); (b) examine associations between self-reported adjustment and performance-based neurocognitive skills; and (c) determine the degree of agreement between self- and parent-reported adjustment in both samples of adolescents. Results: The sample of ACIs self-reported significantly higher levels of atypicality and depression, and significantly lower levels of interpersonal relations, self-reliance, and personal adjustment when compared to the AH sample. Self-reported adjustment and performance-based neurocognitive skills were associated in both groups of adolescents. Specifically, better language, verbal working memory, and inhibition-concentration skills were associated with fewer internalizing problems, fewer emotional symptoms, and stronger personal adjustment in the ACI sample and with fewer school problems in the AH sample. Finally, in the ACI sample, results revealed agreement between self- and parent-ratings of social, emotional, and behavioral adjustment. In the AH sample, however, results revealed divergence between self- and parent-ratings of anxiety and hyperactivity. Conclusions: Self-reported measures of social, emotional, and behavioral adjustment revealed differences between samples of ACI and AH. Notably, self- and parent-reporting showed agreement, supporting the use of parent-reporting as a valid measure of adjustment in clinical ACI samples.