A Study on School Adjustment and Aggression among Adolescents with and without Hearing Impairment

Background: Adolescence is a stage with tremendous pressure and stress. The ones with disability, especially hearing impaired may feel discouraged from exposing themselves to socially challenging situations, thus producing isolation that leads to depression, irritability and feelings of inferiority. Adolescents as such are under constant pressure to perform at every front, the main one being academics. School adjustment is a procedure that brings a person's behaviour in compliance with the norms of the school. It comprises of educational, social and emotional adjustment. Aim: The present study aims to examine the level of school adjustment and aggression among the adolescent with and without hearing impairment. The gender differences were also examined. Methods and Materials: A total of 60 adolescent (girls and boys) aged 14-18 years were selected for the study. Out of which 30 adolescents had hearing impairment and they were selected from school for deaf and blind and a controlled group of 30 adolescents without hearing impairment were selected from a government school in the same area. They were matched on age and gender. A self-constructed interview schedule was used to collect the socio demographic profile of the respondents. Scale on aggression by Mathur G.P. and Bhatnagar Rajkumari and Adjustment Inventory for school students by Sinha and Singh were used. Results: The results showed that there were no significant difference in school adjustment among adolescents with and without hearing impairment and also no significant gender differences were found. Adolescent children with hearing impairment were more aggressive in compared to the same age group adolescents without hearing impairment. Boys were more aggressive as compared to girls in both groups. Conclusion: There is a need to address the issues related to aggression among adolescents with hearing impairment specifically adolescent boys through psychosocial interventions to channelize their energy in a positive direction. Keywords: Aggression, school adjustment, adolescents, hearing impairment