The relationship between marital attributions and hearing aid use
Abstract
The present study examined marital attributions and how they relate to the use of hearing aids. The Audiologic Couple Attribution Measure (ACAM) was developed for this study, and its reliability and validity assessed. Using the ACAM, the relations between causal and responsibility attributions and five hearing loss-related behaviors: (1) Withdrawal, (2) Lack of Comprehension, (3) Avoids Social Situations, (4) Conversation from a Different Room, and (5) TV and Radio Volume-Setting, were examined. Nineteen hearing impaired patients and their spouses participated in the study (38 subjects). Fifteen patients were male and four were female. Following an audiologic assessment. Following the assessment of the patients, couples completed three questionnaires: a background information survey, the ACAM, and the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scales (KMS). Several weeks later, following either hearing aid dispensing or rejection of amplification by the patient, hearing aid use or nonuse was determined The ACAM was administered a second time to 17 subjects to establish reliability. The test-retest reliability correlations for items on the ACAM ranged from $-$.31 to.86 for patients, and $-$.23 to 1.00 for spouses, with three significant correlations. Patients' and spouses' attributions generally appeared to be unrelated to patients' hearing aid use. There were significant differences in ten out of twenty pair-wise comparisons of the five ACAM behaviors in the degree to which patients and spouses believed those behaviors were affected by hearing loss. The perception of withdrawal as affected by hearing loss was significantly negatively correlated with both causal and responsibility attributions for patients with hearing loss. There also was a highly significant relationship between subjects' causal and responsibility attributions. The implications of these and other results are discussed.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Goldstein, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Audiology|Social psychology|Families & family life|Personal relationships|Sociology
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