Abstract:

Background:
Prior studies have shown that the communication between parents and children influences the comprehension of emotions. Unfortunately, there is little research that shows the study of these variables on mothers of pre-school children with CI (Cochlear Implant). After CI surgery, children achieve significant improvements in language. Sometimes this linguistic development is more limited, compared to their hearing peers, because they require a linguistically stimulating family environment. At the moment, we do not know how the conversational sensitivity influence of the maternal emotional discourse of this specific group of mothers, which could influence the emotional abilities of their children.

Aims:
a) Describe the maternal emotional discourse and
b) Analyze the influence of maternal sensitivity on the emotional discourse of hearing mothers of children of 3 to 6-year olds with CI.

Method & Procedures:
The design of this study is transversal. The participants were eighteen hearing mothers of pre-school deaf children with CI of 29-43-year olds (average = 36 year). 88.8% of mothers have completed their technical or higher education studies. For data collection, each mother-child dyad was recorded in their family environment. The maternal emotional discourse was evaluated with an instrument of direct observation. The 4 emotions that were selected are: happiness, sadness, anger and fear. The maternal sensitivity was measured with the maternal sensitivity scale of Bakar et al. (2010). This has 13 items with a score from 1 (highly insensitive) to 9 (highly sensitive).

Results:
The first results show that most mothers explain the external causes and the role of desires associated with emotions. On the other hand, the average maternal sensitivity of the group of mothers was 6.7 points.

Conclusion:
It is essential to continue studying the maternal emotional discourse and the influence of maternal sensitivity on it, mainly because it can influence on the emotional comprehension skills of these children. Thus, we can continue to guide and deliver guidelines to families and the team of therapists.

Keywords:

Communication of emotions, conversational sensitivity of mothers, mother-child interaction, cochlear implant.