Social skills in children and adolescents: differences between deaf and hearing

Abstract

Deafness results in difficulties in identifying elements of social performance in other people. This study evaluated the social skills of deaf and hearing children and adolescents to draw a profile on the categories of social skills. This is a quantitative, cross-sectional, comparative study. The participants were 122 deaf and hearing children and adolescents, each group containing 61 individuals aged between seven and 16 years. The instruments used were a sociodemographic questionnaire and the Teste de Habilidades Sociais para Crianças e Adolescentes em Situação Escolar (THAS-C). The results showed deficits in the social skills of deaf children and adolescents compared to hearing. The social skills profiles generally favored the hearing groups, with the exception of the item Conversation and Social Resourcefulness, which favored deaf children. Communicational and developmental differences were considered during the discussion. We stress the need for research with deaf individuals to propose interventions adapted to this population.