Social competence in children with cochlear implants: is it possible to catch up with their peers?

The objective of this study is to compare social competence skills in children with CI and their normal hearing peers.

Forty-six children with normal hearing and 46 children with CI between the ages of 42 and 72 months were included in the control group and study group, respectively. Preschool teachers rated children's social competence in the classroom using the Social Competence and Behavior Evaluation-Preschool Edition. Three subscales constitute the structure of the SCBE-30 scale: anger-aggression, social competence, and anxiety-withdrawal.

The analyses showed that there were statistically significant differences between social competence scores of the study group and the control group. However, there was no statistically significant difference between anger-aggression scores and anxiety-withdrawal scores of the study group and the control group. There was a significant correlation found between anger-aggression score and the age of starting rehabilitation.

Anger-aggression scores and anxiety-withdrawal scores were similar between children using cochlear implant and normal hearing peers, whereas children with CI show lower social competence abilities than normal hearing peers. Earlier beginning to the rehabilitation programs coincide with lower anger-aggression scores. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to reflect these findings more objectively, from the view of teachers.