Childhood Listening and Associated Cognitive Difficulties Persist Into Adolescence

Abstract

Objective: Listening difficulty (LiD) refers to the challenges individuals face when trying to hear and comprehend speech and other sounds. LiD can arise from various sources, such as hearing sensitivity, language comprehension, cognitive function, or auditory processing. Although some children with LiD have hearing loss, many have clinically normal audiometric thresholds. To determine the impact of hearing and cognitive factors on LiD in children with a clinically normal audiogram, we conducted a longitudinal study. The Evaluation of Children’s Listening & Processing Skills (ECLiPS), a validated and standardized caregiver evaluation tool, was used to group participants as either LiD or typically developing (TD). Our previous study aimed to characterize LiD in 6- to 13-year-old children during the project’s baseline, cross-sectional phase. We found that children with LiD needed a higher signal-to-noise ratio during speech-in-speech tests and scored lower on all assessed components of the NIH Cognition Toolbox than TD children. The primary goal of this study was to examine if the differences between LiD and TD groups are temporary or enduring throughout childhood. Design: This longitudinal study had three data collection waves for children with LiD and TD aged 6 to 13 years at Wave 1, followed by assessments at 2-year (Wave 2) and 4-year (Wave 3) intervals. Primary analysis focused on data from Waves 1 and 2. Secondary analysis encompassed all three waves despite high attrition at Wave 3. Caregivers completed the ECLiPS, while participants completed the Listening in Spatialized Noise–Sentences (LiSN-S) test and the NIH-Toolbox Cognition Battery during each wave. The analysis consisted of (1) examining longitudinal differences between TD and LiD groups in demographics, listening, auditory, and cognitive function; (2) identifying functional domains contributing to LiD; and (3) test-retest reliability of measures across waves. Mixed-effect models were employed to analyze longitudinal data. Results: The study enrolled 169 participants, with 147, 100, and 31 children completing the required testing during Waves 1, 2, and 3, respectively. The mean ages at these waves were 9.5, 12.0, and 14.0 years. On average, children with LiD consistently underperformed TD children in auditory and cognitive tasks across all waves. Maternal education, auditory, and cognitive abilities independently predicted caregiver-reported listening skills. Significant correlations between Waves 1 and 2 confirmed high, long-term reliability. Secondary analysis of Wave 3 was consistent with the primary analyses of Waves 1 and 2, reinforcing the enduring nature of listening difficulties. Conclusion: Children with LiD and clinically normal audiograms experience persistent auditory, listening, and cognitive challenges through at least adolescence. The degree of LiD can be independently predicted by maternal education, cognitive processing, and spatial listening skills. This study underscores the importance of early detection and intervention for childhood LiD and highlights the role of socioeconomic factors as contributors to these challenges.