Date

9-25-2025

Department

School of Behavioral Sciences

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (PhD)

Chair

Angela Rathkamp

Keywords

deaf, hard of hearing or DHH, stigma, sign language, ASL, American Sign Language, resilience, attitudes, hearing parents of deaf children, emerging adults

Disciplines

Psychology

Abstract

Research studies investigating DHH emerging adults’ resilience are scarce. Current resilience investigations suggest that success in overcoming life challenges depends on the personal resourcing of learned social skills. For the DHH emerging adult, adversity (i.e., stigma and attitudes regarding sign language) fosters hindrance against resilience, which is imperative for one’s successful adaptation to challenging life experiences. The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to examine stigma and the attitudes of hearing parents, the target population, regarding sign language and its perceived impact on the resilience of their Deaf and hard-of-hearing emerging adults. Data were collected using an online anonymous survey, and responses were analyzed using IBM SPSS. Pearson correlations evaluated bivariate relationships between resilience, stigmatic and attitudinal variables, and attitudes regarding Christianity. The researcher failed to reject the null hypotheses, indicating no statistical significance between stigma and attitudes regarding sign language or attitudes about Christianity in hearing parents regarding perceived resilience in their emerging adult children. Recommendations for future research on this topic include increasing the sample size, conducting research using a mixed-methods design, and examining resilience from the perspective of DHH emerging adults.

Download

Included in

Psychology Commons

Share

COinS