The role of experience and language gap on depression and aggression in hard of hearing individuals

Abstract

Hard of hearing individuals having language and communication problems might be prone to experience psychopathology just like every individual using phonic languages. This study tested a structural equation model in which aggression mediated the relationship between perception of gap between experience and language representation and depression in hard of hearing sample. Although previous research gave evidence that language deterioration is closely related to depression, the research on intervening variables in the relationship has been limited. The main aim of the present study was to provide additional knowledge about the mediatory processes through which language relates to depression. Two-hundred hard of hearing individual participated in the study. The Beliefs about the Functions of Language Scale was used to measure personal perception of the gap between experience and language; Buss Perry Aggression Questionnaire was used to measure aggression level and Beck Depression Inventory was used to measure depression levels of the participants. The model proposed by the current investigation was tested using structural equation modelling using LISREL 8.80. Although the results supported that aggression plays a potentially mediatory role between GAP and depression, the alternative model considered to be better where depression was taken as a mediator variable. Under the light of previous research and current findings, suggestions for prevention and treatment strategies for aggression will be provided, especially for the hard of hearing people.