Hauser
First Name
Peter
Last Name
Hauser
Department
American Sign Language and Interpreting Education
Scholarship Year
2025
Research Center
Research Center on Culture and Language (CCL)
Scholarship Type
Journal Paper
Contributors List
Joanna Kowalska, Peter C. Hauser, Piotr Krzysztofiak, Piotr Tomaszewski
Project Title
Internalized Oppression and Deaf Peoples' Mental Health
Start Date - Month
January
Start Date - Year
2023
End Date Anticipated - Month
January
End Date Anticipated - Year
2027
Review Types
Double Blind Peer Reviewed
Student Assistance
None
Projected Cost
$0.00
Funding Source
Operating Budget
Resulting Product
Paper
Citation

Tomaszewski, Piotr, et al. "Internalized Oppression and Deaf People's Mental Health." Scientific Reports 15. (2025): 5268. Web. «

Abstract

Deaf people experience ableism (able-bodied oppression), audism (hearing-ability oppression), and linguicism (sign language-use oppression) and this study investigated if internalizing these oppressive experiences predicts their mental health. Deaf participants (N = 134) completed a 54-item Deaf Oppression Scale, developed for this study with Ableism, Audism, and Linguicism Subtests, along with the Beck Depression Inventory-II and the State and Trait Anxiety Inventory. The Deaf Oppression Scale and its Ableism, Audism, and Linguicism Subscales carry good reliability and the model fit indices for a confirmatory factor analysis indicated a good fit. Sixteen (16%) percent (n = 22) of the sample had depression, 36% (n = 48) had state anxiety, and 64% (n = 86) had trait anxiety. Internalized ableism predicted greater characteristics and symptoms of depression, internalized ableism and linguicism predicted greater state anxiety, and internalized audism predicted greater trait anxiety. This is the first empirical evidence dissociating three types of oppression that deaf people experience and their separate and different effects on their psychological well-being.

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