Abstract of Project Funded for FY 1999
| Family Functioning and Child Behavior
Jessica Rosenbaum, Psychology Interactions between children and parents have a critical effect on the child’s development, sense of identity, and behavior (Featherstone, 1980; Minuchin, 1981/1996; Vuchinich, Vuchinich, & Coughlin, 1992). Even so, few studies of family functioning in hearing parented families with a deaf child exist. The proposed study will investigate how communication mode at home (oral/aural communication, sign communication, or Cued Speech) and/or communication quality mediates the deaf child’s behavior and/or family functioning. A demographic questionnaire, the Family Assessment Device (FAD; Epstein, Baldwin, & Bishop, 1983), the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale (FACES; Olson, Portner, & Bell, 1982) and the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL; Achenbach & Edelbrook, 1986) will be mailed to a sample of households with hearing parents and at least one deaf child between 6 and 11 years of age. The primary caregiver in the family will be asked to complete the questionnaire. A regression analysis will be run to assess relationships among the independent and dependent variables. The proposed study will serve to clarify how communication mode and communication quality impact both family functioning and the deaf child’s behavior. |