Emotion Perception in Deaf and Hard of Hearing Adolescents: A Systematic Review

The ability to perceive emotions from faces, voices, music, and body language is fundamental to social interaction. Deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) adolescents may be at risk for difficulties due to reduced auditory access. This systematic review synthesizes evidence on emotion perception in DHH adolescents published between 1970 and 2025. Following PRISMA guidelines, we searched five databases and identified 24 studies. Thematic analysis was guided by social-emotional learning theory, cross-modal integration perspectives, and ecological systems theory. Results reveal a modality-specific profile: facial emotion perception is robust for basic emotions but shows atypical visual strategies; speech prosody perception is consistently challenging; music emotion perception relies on compensatory cues; evidence for body-language perception is sparse. Individual and environmental factors interact across ecological levels. Only one intervention study was identified, highlighting a critical gap. This review provides a framework for understanding emotion perception in DHH adolescents and offers directions for research and practice.