Well-Being and Coping Capacities of Adolescent Students with Hearing Loss in Mainstream Schools

AbstractObjectivesCoping strategies used by adolescents has an important role in Preventing or decreasing their stresses and also increasing their wellbeings.This study aimed at evaluating the coping capacity and wellbeing of adolescent students with hearing loss in mainstream schools and also the correlations between their coping strategies and positivecharacteristics of well-being (engagement, perseverance, optimism,connectedness and happiness (EPOCH).Materials & MethodsIn this correlational study, 122 adolescent students with hearing loss were randomly selected from mainstream schools. Data collection was done by EPOCH Measure of Adolescent Well-Being and the Ways of Coping Questionnaire (WAYS). The Spearman correlation coefficient was used for determining the correlations between variables.ResultsThe mean scores of using different coping strategies varied from 1.36i n problem solving to 1.44 in seeking support. Among the positive characteristics of well-being, happiness had the lowest (11.04) and connectedness showed the highest score (12.33). The findings also showed a significant correlation between all coping strategies and EPOCH, however there was a strong positive correlation between total coping strategy score and perseverance (0.648) and happiness(0.629).ConclusionBased on the results, the score of happiness in students with hearingl oss was the lowest among positive characteristics of well-being and also happiness showed a strong association with total scores in coping strategies. Accordingly, interventional studies are needed to examine whether training students with hearing loss to use coping strategies is effective in increasing their happiness and overall well-being.