Project Summary/Abstract The cascading effects of prelingual hearing loss and subsequent cochlear implantation on the development of children’s psychosocial (emotional, behavioral, and social) adjustment are not fully understood. The specific objective of this research project is to identify how stress appraisal and coping responses, supported by neurocognitive (language and executive functioning) skills, predict psychosocial risk or resilience in prelingually deaf, early-implanted cochlear implant (CI) users. We hypothesize that prelingual hearing loss exposes children to a unique and multifaceted set of stressors, which taxes and depletes limited-capacity resources such as language and executive functioning skills, leading to maladaptive stress appraisal and coping responses, and individual differences in psychosocial adjustment. Two specific aims are proposed to accomplish our research objective and provide novel theoretical and clinical contributions to the field of cognitive hearing science: In Specific Aim 1, a cross-sectional design will be used to determine the relationship between children’s hearing history (CI vs. NH) and individual level stress appraisal/coping responses and the extent to which that relationship is mediated by neurocognitive (language and EF) skills. In Specific Aim 2, a prospective longitudinal design will be used to predict variability in psychosocial outcomes in CI users by identifying the extent to which stress appraisal/coping responses mediate the longitudinal relationship between neurocognitive (language and EF) skills and psychosocial adjustment. This will be the first research project to systematically examine the effects of pediatric hearing loss and neurocognitive (language and executive functioning) skills on individual-level stress appraisal, coping responses, and downstream psychosocial adjustment in pediatric CI users. Findings from the proposed project offer both theoretical and clinical implications for the early identification, diagnosis, and treatment of at-risk psychosocial outcomes in pediatric CI users by providing a developmental understanding of how underlying mechanisms of risk and resilience are associated with variability in psychosocial adjustment.