The way young children who are deaf or hard of hearing interact with their parents or carers needs more research, with greater attention to daily routines, such as bathing, eating, changing nappies and tidying, according to NextSense Institute researcher Dr Amy Szarkowski.

Amy, a senior academic in early intervention for children who are deaf or hard of hearing, recently co-authored A call to action: more parent–child interaction research within daily routines!

This systematic review published in The Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education examined more than 1800 academic papers that explored associations between parent-child interaction and developmental outcomes among children who are deaf or hard of hearing aged from birth to three years. The review found that there is insufficient research examining these interactions during daily routines including bathing, eating, changing nappies and tidying, with existing research focused on interactions during play and reading.

While the authors acknowledged the importance of parent-child interaction during reading and play, they argued that familiar environments associated with daily routines can be particularly useful for observing dynamics between parents and children, and how these support child development.

Amy hopes that more comprehensive research into this area will ultimately improve outcomes for children who are deaf or hard of hearing.

“Current research shows that positive interactions between parents and their children is beneficial to children’s vocabulary development, cognitive control and emotional regulation,” she says.

Looking to the future

The article authors, which included researchers from the Netherlands and the UK, propose four key points to address in future research in this space:

1. Observe parent-child interaction within daily routines to increase understanding of the ‘dynamic influences of child behaviours and parent behaviours on each other and on the relationship’.

2. Use video recordings to capture parent-child interaction and use this to facilitate conversations between parents and early intervention practitioners.

3. Improve inclusion of diverse research participants to extend understanding of how parent-child interaction can vary among different demographic groups.

4. Improve reporting of parent and child participant demographics. This will help improve understanding of who was involved in studies and how the findings might be applicable.

As an early intervention practitioner as well as a researcher, Amy is hoping this research will lead to improvements in early intervention and support for families and their children who are deaf or hard of hearing in the future.