A Comparison of Social Behaviors among Nonhandicapped and Hearing Impaired Children.

Matched on age (8 to 14 years) and sex (equal members) were 30 hearing impaired children with 30 nonhandicapped children. They were then assessed by their teachers on the Matson Evaluation of Social Skills with Youngsters, a 57-item Likert scale with a factor on appropriate social behaviors (Factor 1 ) and inappro priate assertion (Factor 2). A separate MANOVA for total score and factor scores was conducted for age and for condition (handicapped or nonhandicapped). Only the MANOVA for condition was significant, and statistical differences based on post hoc univariate F tests were only presenton Factor 2. Also, the most prevalent items for Factors 1 and 2 of the scale were listed and compared across the two groups of children. Differences on Factor 1 showed that hearing impaired children were generally less assertive, while differences in rankings of particular items in Factor 2 were slight. The implications of the findings are discussed. The assessment and treatment of deficits and excesses in social behavior has begun to receive considerable attention. Efforts have encompassed a wide range of interpersonal skills presumed to be requisite to the child's interpersonal effectiveness and have included conversational ability (Matson, Kazdin, & Esveldt-Dawson, 1980), friendship making (Gott man, Gonso, & Rasmussen, 1975; Oden & Asher, 1977), assertion skills (Bornstein, Bellack, & Hersen, 1977), and cooperative play (Wheman, Karan, & Retif, 1976). The long range effects of social interpersonal inadequacy has also been a major point of contention when studying this area for children. Social behaviors have been linked to a series of problems in later life including juvenile delinquency, withdrawal, school failure, academic underachievement, and many socio-emotional problems (Kelly, 1982; Kohn, 1977; Ullman, 1957). Additionally, developmental studies have indicated that peer relations contribute significantly to social competencies and complement them as adults (Hartup, 1978). It has also been found that these problems are not unique to the "normal" childhood population but are also found in the developmentally disabled. Mentally retarded persons evince these problems more frequently than the general population (Matson, in press) and they are evident in the deaf as well. Estimates of this problem in the hearing impaired group range from 10 to 31% (Meadow & Schlesinger, 1971; Naiman, Schein, & Stewart, 1973) and these problems span the broad range of behavioral disorders (Calvert, 1968; Garrison, Tesch, & DeCaro, 1978; Goulder & Trybus, 1977; McCrone, 1980; Rainer, 1975). These incidence rates are much greater than those evident in the normal population and suggest the need for more study of social-emotional problems with the deaf child. While social skills have become a popular topic for investigation, little in the way of scale development has emerged. One exception is the Matson Evaluation of Social Skills with Youngsters (MESSY) which has been demonstrated to have acceptable psychometric properties and has been factor analyzed with nonhandicapped (Matson, Rotatori, & Helsel, 1983) and deaf children (Matson, Macklin, & Helsel, in press). The purpose of the present study was to begin to develop an understanding of social deficiencies in the deaf by matching these children with the nonhandicapped (on age and sex). As such, the present The conduct of this study and the preparation of the manuscript was supported in part by a Spencer Fellowship from the National Academy of Education awarded to the second author. Appreciation is extended to William J. Helsel who assisted in the collation and analysis of the data. Reprints may be requested from the second author. 60 November 1985 Behavioral Disorders This content downloaded from 157.55.39.27 on Wed, 07 Sep 2016 04:37:39 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms study was primarily descriptive but did begin to show the type and extent of social skills deficits and excesses in this group.