Factors that affect the social well-being of children with cochlear implants.

The aim of the study was to identify factors associated with the level of social well-being for cochlear implanted children and to estimate effect-related odds ratios for the children's well-being. Another aim was to analyse associations between speech and language level and the level of social well-being. Data relate to 167 children with cochlear implants. In structural interviews, parents rated their children's level of social well-being regarding the degree of their child's personal-social adjustment. Five different factors were considered. Logistic regression models and proportional odds models were used to analyse the relationship between the considered factors and the assessments. The analyses showed that the communication mode at home was the most highly associated factor. A statistically significant association was found between the level of social well-being and speech understanding, speech production and vocabulary. Children who were exposed to a spoken language had considerably better odds of having a high level of social well-being compared to children with a mixture of spoken language and sign support or sign language.