Family-Centered Early Intervention (FCEI) Involving Fathers and Mothers of Children Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing: Parental Involvement and Self-Efficacy

Evelien Dirks; Amy Szarkowski

doi:10.3390/jcm11030492

Family-Centered Early Intervention (FCEI) Involving Fathers and Mothers of Children Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing: Parental Involvement and Self-Efficacy

J Clin Med. 2022 Jan 19;11(3):492. doi: 10.3390/jcm11030492.

Authors

Evelien Dirks^{1

2}, Amy Szarkowski^{3

4

5}

Affiliations

¹ Dutch Foundation for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Child (NSDSK), 1073 GX Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
² Department of Psychology, Utrecht University, 3508 TC Utrecht, The Netherlands.
³ Children's Center for Communication/Beverly School for the Deaf (CCCBSD), Beverly, MA 01915, USA.
⁴ LEND (Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities) Program, Division of Developmental Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
⁵ Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA.

Abstract

(1) Background: Studies related to family-centered early intervention (FCEI) for children who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) have largely focused on mothers, at the exclusion of fathers. Yet, understanding fathers' experiences with FCEI is also important and may inform service delivery. The present study explores self-efficacy and involvement with FCEI in both fathers and mothers. (2) Methods: Dutch fathers and mothers completed questionnaires about their parental self-efficacy, involvement in FCEI, perceived support from their primary EI provider, and the impact of raising a child who is DHH on parenting. (3) Results: Both fathers and mothers reported relatively high levels of self-efficacy. Mothers reported higher levels than fathers on some domains of self-efficacy and tended to be more involved in their child's FCEI than fathers. In fathers, but not mothers, higher levels of self-efficacy were related to higher levels of involvement and higher levels of perceived support. (4) Conclusions: Similarities and differences were found between fathers and mothers in their perspectives on self-efficacy and involvement. This points to potential differences related to their FCEI needs. EI providers need to address both the needs of fathers and mothers to promote optimal development among child who are DHH.

Keywords: deaf; deaf or hard of hearing (DHH); early intervention (EI); family-centered early intervention (FCEI); fathers; hard of hearing; involvement; mothers; perceived support; self-efficacy.