PROTOCOL: Instruments for the evaluation of emotional intelligence in persons with hearing impairments: A scoping review

Abstract Objective This scoping review aims to identify and describe the instruments used to evaluate emotional intelligence in deaf and hard of hearing (D/HH) persons. Introduction Emotional intelligence is a person's ability to work with emotions in response to a particular situation. Deafness or a hard of hearing has a negative effect on functioning in the field of emotional intelligence and leads to a specific approach to the diagnosis or evaluation of emotional intelligence. Inclusion Criteria The scoping review will consider studies focused on persons who are deaf or hard of hearing at any age. The review will consider studies that feature existing instruments and the process of the evaluation of emotional intelligence in people with hearing disabilities. Relevant information will include the type, extent, and form of possible modification of specific instruments and approaches. Criteria for the exclusion of the study will be in terms of the target category being persons with a cochlear implant, psychiatric diagnoses, persons who have become deaf, and persons with multiple disabilities. Methods The review will be conducted following the JBI methodology for scoping reviews. The databases to be searched include MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL Plus, ProQuest Central, PsycINFO, Scopus, Web of Science, Clinical Trials, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), and Google Scholar. The search for unpublished studies will include ProQuest Dissertations and Theses (ProQuest). Eligible studies will undergo data extraction by two independent reviewers using a tool created by the authors. Along with a narrative summary, the results will be presented in diagrammatic or tabular form.


| Emotional intelligence
Two completely different models characterize the concept of emotional intelligence. The first model of emotional intelligence that will be included in the search strategy is the Ability model (Salovey et al., 2004). It is the concept of emotional intelligence, which is perceived as a set of interconnected and objectively measurable cognitive-emotional abilities, including the ability to perceive, direct, facilitate and understand the emotions of oneself and others. The model contains four main types of emotional abilities. Emotional Individuals can control their own emotions and respond to other people's emotions. The Trait Model is a model that represents the opposite concept of the Ability model (Petrides, 2021). It is a model of emotional intelligence based on individuals' ability to perceive their emotional abilities. The trait model of emotional intelligence is characterized as "a constellation of emotional self-perceptions and is related to a person's personality. It is assumed that emotions are subjective and emotional intelligence is the individual perception of one's ability to work with emotions. Emotional intelligence is a person's ability to work with emotions in response to a particular situation and evaluate emotions to regulate behavior (Mayer & Salovey, 1997;VandenBos, 2015). Emotional intelligence consists of the ability to orientate oneself in one's own emotions, manage them, and subsequently make appropriate use of them in the conception and realization of social behavior. Emotional intelligence is a prerequisite for handling social situations and is closely linked to childhood experience and social learning (Basu & Mermillod, 2011;Boyatzis, 2018) The information that all these tests are verbal can be considered essential (O'Connor et al., 2019). This fact means that testing is in all cases standardized for individuals with a typically developed ability to read with understanding. Therefore, the language competencies of the client or respondent are necessary for understanding the assignment or statement in the test to consider the answer valid.

| Deafness and hard of hearing
Deafness or hard of hearing has a negative impact on one's development in the cognitive, social, and emotional areas from an early age (Overview of Psychological Testing, 2015). Hearing is the essential instrument for awareness of emotions and emotional experience in the process of social learning (Abdolrezapour & Tavakoli, 2021). The barrier of D/HH is the most common cause of misunderstandings of meaning and subtle differentiations in the range of emotions and reflections of emotional states following the evaluation of a particular social situation and subsequent manifestation of behavior. Everything is based on adequate control of concepts, language, and communication. The age of the child when hearing loss is diagnosed is an essential factor that will affect the initiation of rehabilitation and its effectiveness (Laugen et al., 2017;Marschark, 1997;Yasin et al., 2012). Any delayed diagnosis has a negative effect on deviations and delays from typical socio-emotional and cognitive development. This fact is related to the delayed development of communication competencies, language, and speech.
Ultimately, the child's educational level is also at risk. It should be stressed that communication and language are essential for a child's further ability to learn. Whether it is spoken language or sign language makes no difference (Lederberg & Spencer, 2009;Quer & Steinbach, 2019). The negative effect of deafness or severe hearing loss affects such a disabled person throughout his or her life to objectively diagnose emotional intelligence in people who are deaf or severely hard of hearing, to take into account specific language comprehension requirements, the subject of this study is to look for the tests used, modified conditions, and comparable test results with a control group of hearing respondents (Elliott et al., 2002). This scoping review will examine and gather evidence concerning the instruments used with persons who are deaf or hard of hearing, taking into account the psychometric parameters and their necessary adjustment. A preliminary search of MEDLINE, PsycInfo, Scopus, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and JBI Evidence Synthesis was conducted. Sources of unpublished studies/gray literature to be searched include Google Scholar and Researchgate.
The following search terms were used: deaf, hard of hearing, emotional intelligence, test, testing.
The subject of the upcoming scoping review is to look for published primary research, registered protocols, and unindexed and gray literature that deal with the topic of emotional intelligence and its measurement in people who are deaf or severely hard of hearing.

| Concept
The review will consider studies that feature existing instruments and the process of their use in the evaluation of emotional intelligence in people with hearing disabilities. Non-standardized instruments and the unclear process of their use in the evaluation of emotional intelligence in people with hearing disabilities will be excluded.

| Context
Relevant information will include the type, extent, and form of possible modification of specific instruments and approaches. These adjustments can be assumed because evaluation instruments and techniques are primarily designed and standardized for a healthyhearing-population. Another essential objective of the review will be the information obtained on the necessary preparation of the experts who carry out the evaluation. It will most probably be psychologists or special pedagogues.

| Types of sources
The scoping review will include qualitative and quantitative studies focused on the target group and emotional intelligence evaluation.
The scoping review will consist of sought-after studies, present primary research, randomized controlled trials, non-randomized controlled trials, longitudinal studies, case studies, and systematic reviews. Gray literature and non-indexed literature will also be included in the search. This review will also consider descriptive observational study designs including case series, individual case reports, and descriptive cross-sectional studies for inclusion.
Qualitative studies will also be considered that focus on qualitative data, including, but not limited to, designs such as phenomenology, grounded theory, ethnography, qualitative description, action research, and feminist research.
In addition, systematic reviews that meet the inclusion criteria will also be considered, depending on the research question. Text and opinion papers will also be considered for inclusion in this scoping review.

| METHODS
The proposed scoping review will be conducted following the JBI methodology for scoping reviews (Peters et al., 2020).

| Search strategy
The search will be aimed at published and unpublished primary studies and non-indexed and gray literature sources. Keywords for texts will be searched for in their title or abstract. Keywords in the research and abstract names were the basis for constructing a complete search strategy (Supporting Information: Annex 1). The search strategy will be formally adjusted to meet sensitive search requirements in a particular database. In terms of time limitation, the search will be limited to between 1963 and 2021. In 1963, a study (Horst, 1963) was published in which the author describes a program for testing high school students. Studies in English, German, and French will be included in the search.

| Study of evidence selection
The citations that are identified will be centered and uploaded to EndNote 20/2021(Clarivate Analytics, PA, USA) and removed from all duplicates when searched. Two independent reviewers will review each article's titles and abstracts in terms of compliance with the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Full-text articles with content related to the topic of the study will be collected and citations exported to the JBI System for the Unified Management, Assessment, and Review of Information (JBI SUMARI) (Munn et al., 2019). Two independent reviewers will rate the articles from the point of view of the inclusion criteria. All reasons for elimination will be stated in the scoping POTMESILOVA ET AL.