Social Adjustment of Deaf Early Adolescents at the Start of Secondary School

Abstract

This study examined the peer relationships and social behaviors of deaf adolescents in the first 2 years of secondary school. Peer nominations and ratings of peer status and behavior were collected longitudinally with 74 deaf and 271 hearing adolescents from Grade 7 to Grade 8. The predictions of deaf adolescents’ peer status in Grade 8 from Grade 7 behaviors differed between mainstream education and special education settings. The behaviors of deaf early adolescents in the beginning of secondary school strongly predicted their peer status a year later. For deaf mainstream students, withdrawn behavior was the most important and negative predictor of peer status. For deaf students in special education settings, prosocial behavior was the most important and positive predictor of peer status.