Abstract
Well-being is an important indicator of an individual's mental health and each individual plays an agency role in their own well-being attainment. Empathy, as a positive emotional quality at the individual level, facilitating the establishment and maintenance of individual interpersonal relationships according to the interpersonal theory of empathy. This study investigated the relationship between empathy, social support and subjective well-being in a total of 191 children and adolescents with deaf and hard of hearing in two boarding special education schools after experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic from Henan Province of China. The results indicated that social support mediates the role of empathy and subjective well-being. The mediating role of social support between empathy and subjective well-being was mainly manifested as peer support rather than teacher support. Fostering empathy and creating a positive social support network among adolescents with deaf and hard of hearing would be effective in enhancing their subjective well-being.
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Data availability
The datasets analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgments
Appreciation is expressed to the schools, teachers, parents, and students for supporting this research; Special thanks to the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments on this article.
Funding
This work was supported by the program of “The Professional Competence Structure, Index System and Construction Mechanism of Itinerant Instructors for Inclusive Education Quality Improvement”, in the International Joint Research Project of Huiyan International College, Faculty of Education, Bei**g Normal University [grant number ICER202103]
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Chonggao Wang, Wangqian Fu: Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation, Formal analysis and Writing - original draft. Kangjie GENG: Writing -- original draft - Review & Editing. Yan Wang: Funding support, Data Curation and Supervision, Review & Editing.
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Appendices
Appendix 1
1.1 Empathy Questionnaire for Children and Early Adolescents
Here are some sentences to describe how you feel about your life. Please circle the number that best fits the situation. The higher the number, the more you agree with the statement, indicating that you always feel this way.
Scale | 1=never | 2=sometimes | 3=often | 4= always | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
EC | 1. When I see someone crying who I do not know, I feel like crying. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
SA | 2. I immediately notice when someone feels bad. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
ER | 3. Even though another person may think differently, I can understand him/her. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
ER | 4. I have fits of anger*. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
EC | 5. When I see someone dancing, I feel like moving my feet. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
ER | 6. I find it easy to understand other people’s different ways of thinking. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
ER | 7. When I get angry, I find it difficult to calm down*. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
EC | 8. When I am with someone who is sad, it makes me feel sad too. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
SA | 9. I notice when a friend is bored. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
EA | 10. If a child forgets his/her pencil case, I should lend him/her my school things. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
ER | 11. I change all of the time; at times I feel good, and suddenly, I get angry*. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
EA | 12. We must share with those who have less than us. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
SA | 13. Even though I am happy, I notice when a friend is angry. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
ER | 14. When I argue with someone, I try to understand what he or she is thinking. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
EA | 15. I think we all must help children in need. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
Appendix 2
1.1 Social support scale
The following is a description of some of the feelings you communicated with your teachers and classmates at school, please judge and circle the degree of consistent with your own according to the description of the content.
Scale | 1 = totally inconsistent | 2 = Slightly inconsistent | 3 = Neutral | 4 = Slightly consistent | 5 = very consistent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1.My teachers are making efforts in hel** me | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
2.I can share with my teachers my happiness and pain | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
3.I can discuss with my teachers my problems | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
4.My friends are all trying to help me | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
5.I have friends that I can share my happiness, anger, sadness and joy with | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
6.I can discuss my problems with my friends | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
Appendix 3
1.1 Subjective happiness scale
For each of the following stateements and/or questions，please circle the point on the scale that you feel is most appropriate in describing you.
Scale | 1= Strongly disagree | 2= Disagree | 3=Somewhat disagree | 4= Neither agree or disagree | 5=Somewhat agree | 6= Agree | 7=Strongly agree |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1.In general, I consider myself a happy person. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
2.Compared to most of my peers，I consider myself more happy | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
3.Even when bad things happen, I try to be happy | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
4.Even when good things happen, I don't feel happy | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
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Wang, C., Fu, W., Geng, K. et al. The Relationship Between Deaf Adolescents’ Empathy and Subjective Well-Being in China During COVID-19 Pandemic: The Inconsistent Role of Peer Support and Teacher Support. Child Ind Res 16, 1913–1940 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-023-10046-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-023-10046-w