Comparative Relationship of Copying Style Strategies with Academic Achievement in Adolescents with or Without Hearing Impairment

Hearing loss in children may cause limitation in social interactions. Therefore, an efficient coping styles of these children could have a positive impact on the relationships and confidence. To compare coping styles between school students with or without hearing impairment in the city of Rasht This analytic descriptive study was performed in 2014. Totally, 54 adolescents with hearing impairment (39 boys and 15 girls) were selected from the Baghcheban School in Rasht from 6th-12th grade. Controls were 70 healthy adolescents (46 boys and 24 girls) age-matched with cases. The participants completed the Adolescent Coping Scale and Kutcher Adolescent Depression Scale questionnaires. Data were analyzed using t test and Chi square. Adolescents with hearing impairment used ‘Problem Focused Coping’, ‘Coping by Reference to Others’ and ‘Non-Productive Coping’ styles in 46.3, 42.6 and 66.6% of the time, respectively, while these styles were used in 22.9, 25.7 and 41.4% of the time by healthy adolescents. Although adolescents with hearing impairment used ‘Non-Productive Coping’ style frequently (P = 0.02), they used the efficient styles more than healthy controls (P = 0.04). The tendency of academic failure risk in adolescents with hearing impairment who used Non-Productive Coping’ style more, was significantly higher (P = 0.02). The findings of the present study highlight the importance of coping strategies for academic achievement in children with or without hearing impairment. Further research is needed to determine more precisely how the intervention program in patients with various sensory-neural impairments can improve coping processes.