Türk işitme engelli çocuklarda zihin kuramı gelişimi ve alıcı dil, öz düzenleme, saldırganlık ve sosyal yetkinlik ile ilişkileri

In this study, the sequential development of ToM and the concurrent associations of receptive language, self-regulation and ToM with social competence and aggressive behavior in 3- to 12-year-old Turkish children with hearing impairment (N = 70) were examined. Both individual assessments (receptive language and ToM) and parent reports (self-regulation, ToM and social behaviors) were used to measure the study variables. Guttman scaling analysis showed that ToM acquisition displayed the following sequence from easy to difficult: diverse desires, diverse beliefs, social pretence, false belief and hidden emotion. Controlling for child's age, the severity of hearing loss was negatively correlated with receptive language and ToM; but age of device use was not linked to any of the developmental outcomes investigated. We conducted a path analysis controlling for severity of hearing loss and age of the children. Social competence was predicted by receptive language, and aggressive behavior was predicted both by lower levels of receptive language and self-regulation. The paths from child's age and severity of hearing impairment to ToM were mediated by receptive language; and the path from age to aggressive behavior was mediated by self-regulation. The findings are discussed with regards to the role of the environment in the acquisition of ToM, and the role of language and self-regulation in social behaviors in children with hearing impairment.