Adult-children's perspectives on a parent's hearing impairment and its impact on their relationship and communication

Abstract

Objective: The aim of the study was to describe third-party disability experienced by adult-children as a result of hearing impairment (HI) in a parent. Design: Using semi-structured interviews, participants were asked to describe the impact of a parent's HI on their relationship and communication. Interpretative phenomenological analysis, a qualitative method to explore participant's perceptions and viewpoints, was used as the method of analysis. Study sample: Twelve participants between the ages of 22 and 58 who each had a parent with confirmed HI who owned hearing aids. Results: Within the contextual factors of family relationships, communication situations, and the parent's personality, adult-children considered their coping strategies and feelings that arose as a result of the HI. Coping strategies included putting forth effort in communication, yelling as an ineffective communication strategy, and providing support to the parent with HI. The described feelings included frustration, uncertainty, and loss surrounding their communication and relationship with their parent with HI. These feelings arose as a result of implementing coping strategies, plus these feelings drove the employment of coping strategies. Conclusions: Adult-children of parents with HI experience third-party disability, however, the participation restrictions and activity limitations experienced by children appear less than experienced by spouses.