Acta Scientific Medical Sciences (ISSN: 2582-0931)

Research Article Volume 4 Issue 2

Empathy, Motor and Psychosocial Development in A Sample of Greek Elementary School Students with and Without Deafness/ Hard of Hearing: Application of the Theory of Mind

Tsifopanopoulou Zoe and Skordilis Emmanouil

National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, School of Physical Education and Sport Science, Greece, Balkans

*Corresponding Author: Tsifopanopoulou Zoe, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, School of Physical Education and Sport Science, Greece, Balkans.

Received: January 06, 2020; Published: January 10, 2020

×

Abstract

  Children with deafness/ hard of hearing (D/HH) have a number of limitations in key aspects of their psychosocial development, resulting in delayed receive of social and emotional stimuli [1]. Empathy is considered important for the development of social behavior and the relationships that children develop among them. Deficits in empathy can play a critical role in the development of openness and may lead to the establishment of additional behavioral problems. Therefore, D/HH children tend to develop empathic abilities lower than their hearing peers, with adverse effect on the initiation and maintenance of social relationships, and their psychosocial development in general. Further, children with D/HH experience restrictions in motor development, especially in gross motor and balance skills [2]. Interventions designed to address these restrictions may start as early as possible in order to have more scope for development [3].

  The present study was designed to evaluate holistically the motor and psychosocial development, empathy and Theory of Mind (ToM) in students with and without D/HH. The total sample consisted from 27 students with D/HH and 31 students with no disabilities who served as controls. Both groups were reqruited from schools in the wider area of Attica/Athens. More specifically, the following assessments were conducted: a) motor development, empathy, ToM and teacher reports on strengths and difficulties the students possess. The goal was to determine the relationships among the above assessments and the differences between students with and without D/HH. The statistical analyses revealed that the students with D/HH had lower scores in motor development, empathy and ToM. In contrast, there were no differences between the two groups regarding the strength and difficulties they experienced. Finally, the assessments were all related significantly with each other, while empathy and ToM scores predicted the motor development of the students with and without D/HH. The findings are discussed with respect to the Theory of Mind.

Keywords: Deaf-Hard of Hearing (D/HH); Motor and Psychosocial Development; Empathy; Theory of Mind (Tom)

×

References

  1. Rieffe CC., et al. “Voorspellen en verklaren van emoties bijdo vekinderen”. Kind En Adolescent 22.2 (2001): 51-57. 
  2. Sherrill C. Adapted Physical Activity, Recreation, and Sport: Crossdisciplinary and Lifespan.6th ed. Boston, MA: McGraw Hill (2004).
  3. Amemiya ÉE., et al. “Communicative indicators, motor and cognitive development of hearing-impaired children”. Journal of Human Growth and Development 26.1 (2016): 54-60. 
  4. Moeller MP. “Early intervention and language development in children who are deaf and hard of hearing”. American Academy of Pediatrics 106.3 (2000): e43-e51. 
  5. Van Eldik TC., et al. “Mental health problems of deaf Dutch children as indicated by parents’ responses to the child behavior checklist”. American Annals of the Deaf 148.5 (2004): 390-395. 
  6. Marschark M., et al. “Diversity in Deaf Education”. Oxford, NY: Univeristy Press (2016).
  7. Vogel-Walcutt JJ C., et al. “Social-emotional functioning of elementary-age deaf children: A profile analysis”. American Annals of the Deaf 156.1 (2011): 6-22. 
  8. Hindley PA. “Mental health problems in deaf children”. Current Paediatrics 15.2 (2005): 114-119. 
  9. Rieffe C., et al. “Assessing empathy in young children: Construction and validation of an Empathy Questionnaire (EmQue)”. Personality and Individual Differences 49.5 (2010): 362-367. 
  10. Jolliffe D and Farrington DP. “Development and validation of the Basic Empathy Scale”. Journal of Adolescence 29.4 (2006): 589-611. 
  11. Zahn-Waxler CC., et al. “Development of concern for others”. Developmental Psychology 28.1 (1992): 126-136.
  12. Jolliffe D and Farrington DP. “Examining the relationship between low empathy and bullying”. Aggressive Behavior 32.6 (2006): 540-550. 
  13. LeSure-Lester GE. “Relation between empathy and aggression and behavior compliance among abused group home youth”. Child Psychiatry and Human Development 31.2 (2000): 153-161.
  14. Miller PA and Eisenberg N. “The relation of empathy to aggressive and externalizing/ antisocial behaviour”. Psychological Bulletin 103.3 (1988): 324-344. 
  15. Calderon R and Greenberg M. “Social and Emotional Development of Deaf Children”. Oxford handbook of deaf studies, language, and education 1 (2003): 177.
  16. Netten AP., et al. “Low empathy in deaf and hard of hearing (pre) adolescents compared to normal hearing controls”. PLOS ONE 10.4 (2015): 1-15. 
  17. Rieffe C. “Awareness and regulation of emotions in deaf children”. British Journal of Developmental Psychology 30.4 (2011): 477-492. 
  18. Bachara GH., et al. “Empathy development in deaf preadolescents”. American Annals of the Deaf 125.1 (1980): 38-41. 
  19. Gallahue DL and Ozmun JC. “Fundamental Movement Abilities. Understanding Motor Development”. Infants, Children, Adolescents, Adults (4th ed.). Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill (1998).
  20. Premack D and Woodruff G. “Does the chimpanzee have a theory of mind?”. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 1.4 (1978): 515-526. 
  21. Peterson CC., et al. “Steps in Theory-of-Mind development for children with deafness or autism”. Child Development 76.2 (2005): 502-517. 
  22. Baron-Cohen S. The Essential Difference. Male and Female Brains and the Truth about Autism. New York, NY: Perseus Books Group (2003).
  23. Wellman H., et al. “Emotion understanding in deaf children with a cochlear implant”. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education 18.2 (2012): 175-186. 
  24. Povinelli DJ and Giambrone S. “Reasoning about beliefs: A human specialization”. Child Development 72.3 (2001): 691-695.
  25. Peterson CC and Siegal M. “Deafness, conversation and theory of mind”. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 36.3 (1995): 459-474. 
  26. Peterson CC., et al. “The mind behind the message: Advancing theory-of-mind scales for typically developing children, and those with deafness, autism, or Asperger syndrome”. Child Development 63.2 (2012): 469-485. 
  27. Peterson CC and Siegal M. “Representing inner worlds: Theory of mind in autistic, deaf, and normal hearing children”. Psychological Science 10.2 (1999): 126-129. 
  28. Bruininks R and Bruininks B. “Bruininks-Oseretsky test of motor proficiency (2nd ed.)”. Minneapolis, MN: NCS Pearson (2005).
  29. Vogindroukas I., et al. “Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test. Children’s Version: A comparison study between children with typical development, children with high-functioning autism and typically developed Adults”. Folia Phoniatrica et Logopaedica 66.1-2 (2014): 18-24. 
  30. Baron-Cohen S., et al. “Are intuitive physics and intuitive psychology independent? A test with children with Asperger Syndrome”. Journal of Developmental and Learning Disorders 5 (2001): 47-78.
  31. Tsitsas GC., et al. “An index of empathy for children and adolescents”. In A. Stalikas, S. Triliva and P. Roussi (eds). The psychometric tools in Greece (2012): 786. 
  32. Bryant BK. “An Index of Empathy for Children and Adolescents”. Child Development 53.2 (1982): 413-425. 
  33. Goodman R. “The strengths and difficulties questionnaire. A research Note”. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 38.5 (1997): 581-586. 
  34. Bibou-Nakou I., et al. “Goodman’ s Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire”. In A. Stalikas, S. Triliva and P. Roussi (eds). The psychometric tools in Greece (2002): 411-413. 
  35. Cohen J. “Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences (2nd ed.)”. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum (1988).
  36. Hair J., et al. Multivariate Data Analysis (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, MA (1998): Prentice-Hall (1998).
  37. Pedhazur E and Pedhazur-Schmelkin L. Measurement, Design, and Analysis: An Integrated Approach. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum (1991). 
  38. Stevens J. “Applied Multivariate Statistics for the Social Sciences”. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum Associates (2002).
  39. Grimm L. “Statistical Applications for the Behavioral Sciences”. New York, NY: John Wiley and Sons Inc (1993).
  40. Koutsouki D. “The Effect of Instruction on Tracking Performance at two Levels of Skill: A Knowledge Based Approach”. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Alberta, Canada (1986).
  41. Williams HGC., et al. “Timing and motor control in clumsy children”. Journal of Motor Behavior 24 (1992): 165-172.
  42. Krombholz H. “Physical performance in relation to age, sex, birth order, social class, and sports activities of preschool children”. Perceptual and Motor Skills 102.2 (2006): 477-484. 
  43. Hartman E., et al. “Motor Skill Performance and Sports Participation in Deaf Elementary School Children”. Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly 28.2 (2011): 132-145. 
  44. Peterson CC. “Empathy and theory of mind in deaf and hearing children”. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education 13 (2015): 1-7.
  45. Ketelaar L., et al. “Social competence and empathy in young children with cochlear implants and with normal hearing”. The Laryngoscope 123.2 (2012): 518-523. 
  46. Peterson CC. “Development of social-cognitive and communication skills in children born deaf”. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 50 (2009): 475-483. 
  47. Fait HF. “Special Physical Education”. Philadelphia, PA: W.B. Saunderns (1972).
  48. Gheysen F., et al. “Motor development of deaf children with and without cochlear implants”. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education 13.2 (2007): 215-224. 
  49. Dammeyer J. “Psychosocial Development in a Danish Population of Children With Cochlear Implants and Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Children”. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education 15.1 (2009): 50-58. 
  50. Spencer P. Play and theory of mind. In M. Marschark and P. E. Spencer.Eds.: The Oxford handbook of deaf studies and deaf education. New York, NY: Oxford University Press (2010): 407-424.
×

Citation

Citation: Tsifopanopoulou Zoe and Skordilis Emmanouil. “Empathy, Motor and Psychosocial Development in A Sample of Greek Elementary School Students with and Without Deafness/ Hard of Hearing: Application of the Theory of Mind". Acta Scientific Medical Sciences 4.2 (2020): 86-97.




Metrics

Acceptance rate30%
Acceptance to publication20-30 days
Impact Factor1.403

Indexed In





Contact US