Development of the Listening Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (LSEQ).

OBJECTIVE Listening self-efficacy refers to the beliefs, or confidence, that listeners have in their capability to successfully listen in specific situations, which may influence audiologic rehabilitation outcomes. The objective of this study was to develop and validate the Listening Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (LSEQ), which quantifies listening self-efficacy in a variety of situations where the goal of the listener is to understand speech. STUDY SAMPLE Older listeners with hearing loss (N = 169) participated in the study. DESIGN A factor analysis showed that the LSEQ has three subscales, with beliefs about listening capabilities relating to the following situations: (1) dialogue in quiet, (2) focusing attention on a single source, and (3) complex auditory scenes. Internal consistency reliability was excellent (Chronbach's α > .80). RESULTS The validity of the LSEQ was demonstrated by comparing the LSEQ scores to audiologic measures, responses on questionnaires, and to the scores for reference groups of younger and older listeners with normal hearing. CONCLUSION The findings indicate that the LSEQ is a valid and reliable measure of listening self-efficacy with good potential for use in clinical and research settings.