Quality of Life and Gender on Educational Attainment of Deaf Adolescents

This study looks at the Quality of Life and Gender on the Educational Attainment of Deaf Adolescents. The population of the study consists of 100 adolescents from the school for the deaf in Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau State. Two questionnaires known as Achievement Motivation Inventory Scale (AMIS) and Hearing Related Quality of Life Measurement forAdolescents (HRQLMA) were used to generate data for the study. The purposeful sampling technique was used to access participants in the study. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings showed that quality of life had a significant effect on the educational attainment of adolescents living with hearing loss, F (1, 92) = 6.660, p = 0.011, with educational attainment motivation mean score of 39.20; and education attainment motivation mean score of 42.01. Another outcome of the study revealed that male adolescents with hearing loss did not significantly have lower educational attainment motivation compared to female adolescents, F (1, 92) = 0.943, p = 0.334, with educational attainment motivation mean score of 40.08 for males; and educational attainment motivation mean score of 41.14 for female participants. This suggests that gender has no significant effect on the educational attainment of deaf adolescents. Without appropriate assessment of the quality of life for adolescents, it should not be assumed that they are receiving appropriate intervention specific to their needs. With suitable assessment tools for adolescents the clinician would be able to effectively evaluate hearing loss and what further involvement may be necessary.