Behavioral Skills and the Use of Hearing Assistance Technologies: Parental Training and Adherence to use

• Grant number: 24/10070-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: May 01, 2025
• End date: November 30, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Psychology
• Principal Investigator: Regina Tangerino de Souza Jacob
• Grantee: Aline Daniela Gomes da Silva Vieira
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Odontologia de Bauru (FOB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Bauru , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Children with hearing impairment (HL) present deficits in the development and acquisition of oral and auditory skills. The use of electronic devices applied to deafness is an option for the development of speech and, although necessary, it is not sufficient to guarantee the acquisition of listening and speaking skills. In addition to the detection and/or sound amplification provided by auxiliary devices, it is necessary to provide the child with communicative experiences that can be naturalistic and incidental or structured and systematized. Incidental experiences can be obtained through interaction with parents and caregivers and will be more effective if they present relevant behavioral skills as a social environment that favors language development. This project proposes to carry out two studies that involve the development of verbal skills in children with AD from the perspective of parenting as part of the child's social environment. Study 1 will verify the effect of teaching behavioral skills to parents of children with HL on increasing the frequency and time of device use for their children. Three children and their parents will participate. Parent behavioral skills (i.e., providing instructions and modeling, enabling and observing rehearsals, and providing feedback), and children's frequency and length of device use will be assessed before and after six encounters. Participants will be organized into days and will be taught according to a multiple baseline design across participants. The training environment can be via teleconsultation or in person. Study 2 will verify the effect of teaching behavioral skills on parents to provide playful situations with their children and verify their effects on the expansion and development of verbal skills. Participants will be remnants of Study 1. Parental behavioral and children's verbal skills will be assessed before and after the intervention. The organization of participants, intervention procedures and design will be similar to the previous study. The results may support the development of guidance protocols for parents in the auditory rehabilitation of children with HL.