Parental Attitudes and the Emotional Adjustment of Deaf Children

Abstract

The parents of 84 deaf children of 3 age levels (3 to 7,8 to 12, and 13 to 19) were administered instruments designed to assess their attitudes toward children and toward disability. The results of this study indicated that there is a significant relationship between maternal and paternal attitudes toward children and the child's emotional adjustment at all 3 age levels, with one exception: the father's attitudes toward children between ages 3 to 7. No significant relationship was found between parental attitudes toward disability and the child's emotional adjustment. Parental attitudes toward children did not vary with the age of the child, while parental attitudes toward disability did.