LONELINESS AND THE MAINSTREAMED HEARING IMPAIRED COLLEGE STUDENT (DEAF).

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to provide a starting point in the investigation of loneliness and mainstreamed hearing impaired college students. It was hypothesized that: hearing impaired students would be lonelier than a sample of hearing students (Russell, Peplau & Cutrona, 1980): hard-of-hearing students would be lonelier than deaf students: freshmen would be lonelier than upper-classmen: males would be lonelier than females: satisfaction with parental and peer relationships would relate inversely to loneliness: adjustment to disability would relate inversely to loneliness: comfort with speech for hard-of-hearing students and comfort with sign language for deaf students would relate inversely to loneliness. One hundred seventy volunteer subjects were drawn from eight mainstream colleges/universities. The questionnaire contained the Revised UCLA Loneliness scale (Russell, Peplau & Cutrona, 1980) as the measure of loneliness. The representativeness of the sample was supported. The validity of the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale as a measure of loneliness for this population was discussed. Hearing impaired students were found to be more lonely than the hearing sample. Questions raised by this finding were discussed. The finding of no difference between mean loneliness scores in terms of the hard-of-hearing/deaf dichotomy, by year in school and by gender, were discussed. The inverse correlations that were found between individual loneliness scores and satisfaction with parental and peer relationships, adjustment to disability and comfort with speech and sign language were discussed in terms of practical significance. Conclusions and recommendations were made and caution was advised in the use of the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale with other hearing impaired samples.