Affective communication facilitates the development of the accurate recognition of the social cues of others, as well as development of positive attributions, self-esteem, and perceived social support. These aspects of social and emotional functioning are of utmost importance because they are essential elements of successful social lives and emotional well-being. The absence or diminished quality of auditory stimulation in childhood impairs the development of social and emotional functioning that is acquired via affective communication. The proposed study will assess social and emotional functioning of children ages 9 to 12 who have cochlear implants. A matched group of normal hearing peers will be assessed for control purposes. We predict that age at implantation and duration of cochlear implant use will be closely associated with social and emotional functioning. Specifically, we predict that children who received cochlear implants at the youngest ages and have used them the longest time will have accurate identification of displayed emotion, positive self-esteem, and perception of social support from family, and peers. The proposed research will explore the importance of auditory perception and affective communication in the ontogenesis of social and emotional functioning.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
Type
Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award (F31)
Project #
5F31DC006204-02
Application #
6780921
Study Section
Communication Disorders Review Committee (CDRC)
Program Officer
Sklare, Dan
Project Start
2003-07-01
Project End
2005-06-30
Budget Start
2004-07-01
Budget End
2005-06-30
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2004
Total Cost
$31,702
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Maryland College Park
Department
Other Health Professions
Type
Schools of Education
DUNS #
790934285
City
College Park
State
MD
Country
United States
Zip Code
20742
Schorr, Efrat A; Roth, Froma P; Fox, Nathan A (2009) Quality of life for children with cochlear implants: perceived benefits and problems and the perception of single words and emotional sounds. J Speech Lang Hear Res 52:141-52
Schorr, Efrat A; Fox, Nathan A; van Wassenhove, Virginie et al. (2005) Auditory-visual fusion in speech perception in children with cochlear implants. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 102:18748-50