Anxiety Disorders, Emotional Literacy, and Emotion Expression in Deaf, Hard-of-Hearing, and Hearing Students

The present study was conducted to compare the symptoms of anxiety disorders, emotional literacy, and emotion expression in deaf, HH, and hearing students in four cities in Iran. This causal-comparative study was conducted with the participation of deaf, Hard-of-Hearing (HH), and hearing students in Iran in 2019. A total of 72 (38 HH and 34 deaf) students with HL and 72 hearing students participated in the present research. The Screen for Child Anxiety-Related Emotional Disorders, The Emotional Literacy Assessment Instrument, and The Emotion Expression Scale for Children were used for data collection. The data were analyzed using MANOVA. The results showed a higher rate of anxiety disorders in deaf and HH students than in hearing students. Emotional literacy was lower in deaf and HH students than in the hearing students, and it was lower in deaf students than in the HH students. Also, disturbance in emotional expression (Poor Awareness Factor [PAF] and Expressive Reluctance Factor [ERF]) was higher in deaf and HH students than in hearing students, and PAF was lower in deaf students than in HH students. The results support the existence of anxiety symptoms, low emotional literacy, and difficulties in expressing emotions in students with HL.Appropriate psychological and pedagogical strategies to reduce anxiety disorders and increase the level of emotion expression and emotional literacy in students with HL are recommended