title: Hearing impairment, social networks, and coping: the need for families with hearing-impaired children to relate to other parents and to hearing-impaired adults.
abstract: For a report on the stress experiences of parents with hearing-impaired children in Germany, 317 parents completed a survey on how their families communicate and socialize, among other issues. The report focuses on how contacts with other parents and with hearing-impaired adults affect stress experiences, in the context of the child's hearing status and the means of communication. Parents who frequently meet with other parents show evidence of a warm, accepting, trusting relationship with their child. Parents who have many contacts with hearing-impaired adults show evidence of a strong sense of competence in regard to their child's upbringing. The findings confirm the implication found in most reports describing empirical studies. Social support is to be regarded as a cornerstone of psychosocial intervention and has to play as great a role as possible in institutional programs.
authors.affiliation: University of Education, Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hintermair
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002668:Child Rearing; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003142:Communication; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D006311:Hearing Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D010290:Parents; D012944:Social Support; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*