Impact of Sport Participation on Psychosocial Development of Mainstreamed Hard of Hearing Adolescent Athletes

Abstract

The purpose of this study was two-fold: First, to qualitatively explore mainstreamed hard of hearing adolescent athletes' psychosocial development, centering on their perspectives of cultural identity, self-concept, and self-esteem and the interaction of these psychological constructs with sport participation. Second, to follow-up with a quantitative measure objectively assessing the impact of sport participation on these psychological domains. Participants were hard of hearing adolescent athletes in the Northeast Atlantic Region, all of whom were currently engaging in some level of sport participation at the time of the study. Five mainstreamed hard of hearing athletes, three male and two female, participated in a semi-structured interview format. Interviews were performed at a time and place convenient for the participant. The purpose of the interview was to elicit detailed, authentic, rich content related to their experiences as hard of hearing athletes both in school and on the field and how these experiences have impacted their self-concept, cultural identification, and social lives. Utilizing grounded theory and adapting the consensual qualitative methods described by Hill, Knox, Thompson, Williams, and Hess (2005), seven conceptual categories and additional sub-categories were derived from the coding process. These conceptual categories and subthemes were found: (a) hearing loss, consisting of severity, age of diagnosis, assistive devices, and familial hearing status, (b) sporting background, sporting initiation, and current team standing, (c) parental roles, consisting of parental support of hearing and parental support of sport, (d) team experience, consisting of teammates, coaches, and opponents, (e) adaptations to being hard of hearing, consisting of working with coaches, on the field and in the classroom, (f) self-esteem/self-concept, consisting of biculturalism, self identity, and on the field mentality, and (g) benefits of sports, consisting of confidence, friends, and other. Participants also completed the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale, which provides a total self-concept score and scores across six subscales: physical appearance and attributes, intellectual and school status, happiness and satisfaction, freedom from anxiety, behavioral adjustment, and popularity. All participants scored "average" or "above average" on total self-concept and the six subscales. The population did not consist of enough participants for a quantitative analysis.