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Locus of control and native Indian children with histories of hearing loss

University of British Columbia

Very little is known about the relationship between locus of control (LOC) orientation and mild or temporary hearing losses associated with chronic otitis media. Furthermore, it seems this relationship may never have been studied in the unique cultural context of Northern Canadian Native Indian societies. The present study investigated the relationship between LOC orientation and hearing status category among Carrier-Sekani children from Northern British Columbia. The relationship between LOC orientation, chronologic age, and academic achievement was also explored. Demographic data collected for a larger study, provided an opportunity to conduct some post hoc analyses on LOC orientation, place in the family, number of parents in the home and family income. Ninety Carrier-Sekani students from grades four to twelve, received a modified Nowicki-Strickland Locus of Control Scale for Children. Students were divided into two broad categories, normally hearing and those having a history of a hearing loss. The latter category was further divided into students with a pure tone loss, students with a history of chronic otitis media and those with observed otitis media at the time of testing. Students could be members of more than one sub-group. Correlation coefficients and Analyses of Variance were computed to explore the relationship between LOC orientation and the independent variables. No significant relationship was discovered between LOC orientation and category of hearing loss. An internal LOC orientation was positively associated with chronologic age, medium family income, two parents in the home and partially associated with academic achievement. This study indicates that for Carrier-Sekani students, a mild or temporary hearing loss is not significantly associated with an external LOC orientation. It seems that school related variables and demographic variables commonly associated with LOC orientation in the samples described in the literature are also present in the sample studied in this project.

Thesis/Dissertation

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2008-09-15

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/2005

Special Education

University of British Columbia

UBCV

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