Resilience as a Correlate of Learning Outcomes among Adolescents with Hearing Impairment in Ibadan, Nigeria

Abstract

Abstract: Adolescents with hearing impairment often record lower academic outcomes than their hearing peers, a pattern sometimes read, unfairly, as evidence that they lack the drive or inner resource needed to succeed in school. This study examined resilience as a psychological correlate of learning outcomes, conceptualised here as academic achievement and social interaction, among adolescents with hearing impairment in Ibadan, Nigeria. Two research purposes were pursued and two null hypotheses were tested. The study was anchored on Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory and adopted a descriptive research design of the correlational type. A census sample of 30 adolescents with hearing impairment was drawn from two special schools in Ibadan. Data were collected using an Academic Achievement Proforma, the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC-10), and a Social Interaction Scale (SIS), whose reliability coefficients were established at 0.76 and 0.72 respectively through test-retest and Cronbach's alpha. Both hypotheses were tested using Pearson Product-Moment Correlation (PPMC) at the 0.05 level of significance. Findings showed no statistically significant relationship between resilience and academic achievement (r(28) = -.063, p = .739) or between resilience and social interaction (r(28) = .143, p = .449). It is concluded that, within this sample, resilience functions largely as an individual coping resource that does not by itself translate into stronger classroom performance or richer peer engagement, a pattern consistent with a sociocultural reading in which learning and social participation depend more on the availability of accessible interactional structures, such as interpreters and trained More Knowledgeable Others, than on internal adaptive capacity alone. The study recommends that schools invest in communication infrastructure and structured peer-interaction programmes rather than relying on resilience-building in isolation to improve outcomes for this population.