ListenFuture-Listening for Their Future: Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Adolescents

ListenFuture-Listening for Their Future: The Complex Associations Between Hearing, Cognition, Spoken Language, Literacy and Psychosocial Wellbeing in Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Adolescents

Status

Recruiting

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Observational

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT07416292

Acronym

ListenFuture

Enrollment

256

Registered

2026-02-18

Start date

2026-03-01

Completion date

2031-12-31

Last updated

2026-02-25

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Hearing Disorders and Deafness

Keywords

burnout, cognition, fatigue, language, listening, literacy, noise

Brief summary

ListenFuture, a nation-wide multidisciplinary project, brings new knowledge on complex associations between listening, cognition, language, literacy, and psychosocial wellbeing in deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) adolescents. Earlier findings indicate that DHH adolescents remain at a risk to achieving age-appropriate skills. The associations among these skills can also be language-dependent. The investigators use behavioral methods and questionnaires. The investigators study speech perception in noise, listening, and listening-related fatigue to reveal how DHH adolescents cope in today's noisy environment. The investigators study cognitive skills and executive functions, spoken language and literacy skills to find out the current state-of-knowledge. The investigators study psychosocial wellbeing, school burnout and factors associated with them. The investigators will utilize supervised and interpretable machine learning to analyse the performance domains that could best predict the outcomes of DHH adolescents. The investigators expect our project to have broad societal impact for DHH adolescents, healthcare, school, and other stakeholders.

Detailed description

ListenFuture provides comprehensive insights into challenges deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) adolescents face in speech perception, language, and literacy, skills essential for use, creation, and integration of information. The investigators will explore the following skills and their complex associations: 1) auditory speech perception, 2) cognitive skills and executive functions, 3) spoken language, 4) literacy, and 5) psychosocial wellbeing and school burnout. The investigators will analyse the demographic, cognitive, speech perception and language processing domains that best predict the outcomes. ListenFuture has the potential to enhance the wellbeing and participation of DHH adolescents and provide valuable information for intervention services and policy making.

Interventions

None listed

Study design

Observational model

CASE_CONTROL

Time perspective

CROSS_SECTIONAL

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

11 Years to 16 Years

Healthy volunteers

Yes

Inclusion criteria

1. Group 1 \- Bilateral mild to complete hearing loss 2. Group 2: * Typical hearing (PTA\<20dB) * Typical cognitive, linguistic and literacy development

Exclusion criteria

Group 1 and Group 2: * heart conditions * developmental brain disorders * chromosome anomalies * severe inner ear anomalies * impairments in both distance senses hearing and vision Group 2: \- concerns regarding attention and psychosocial wellbeing

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals (CELF5)	Day 1	General language skills. Measurement of language performance against age-matched peers

Secondary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Assessment of reading, writing and arithmetic skills (LUKILASSE)	Day 1	Assessment of school skills in relation to the goals required by the grade level (in Finnish language)

Countries

Finland

Contacts

CONTACTHeikki J Löppönen, MD Professor

heikki.lopponen@uef.fi+358405656183

CONTACTTaina T Välimaa, PhD Professor

taina.valimaa@abo.fi+358405399432

Outcome results