Interactive Effects of Temperament and Family-Related Environmental Confusion on Spoken Language in Children Who Are Deaf and Hard of Hearing

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine the influence of caregivers' reports of family-related environmental confusion—which refers to the level of overstimulation in the family home environment due to auditory and nonauditory (i.e., visual and cognitive) noise—on the relation between child temperament and spoken language outcomes in children who are deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) in comparison to age-matched children with typical hearing (TH). Method: Two groups of families with children between 3 and 7 years of age (TH = 59, DHH = 58) were sequentially recruited from a larger longitudinal study on developmental outcomes in children who are DHH. Caregivers (all TH) completed questionnaires measuring three dimensions of child temperament (i.e., effortful control, negative affectivity, and surgency–extraversion) and family-related environmental confusion. A norm-referenced language measure was administered to children. Testing took place within the families' homes. Results: For children who are DHH, effortful control was positively related to spoken language outcomes, but only when levels of family-related environmental confusion were low to moderate. Family-related environmental confusion did not interact with temperament to influence spoken language in children with TH. Conclusions: Homes with low-to-moderate levels of environmental confusion provide an environment that supports DHH children with better effortful control to harness their self-regulatory skills to achieve better spoken language comprehension than those with lower levels of effortful control. These findings suggest that efforts to minimize chaos and auditory noise in the home create an environment in which DHH children can utilize their self-regulatory skills to achieve optimal spoken language outcomes.