Stuttering attitudes of students: Professional, intracultural, and international comparisons

Abstract

Purpose: The study sought to identify major-specific, training, and cultural factors affecting attitudes toward stuttering of speech-language pathology (SLP) students.

Method: Eight convenience samples of 50 students each from universities in the USA and Poland filled out the Public Opinion Survey of Human Attributes-Stuttering (POSHA-S) in English or Polish, respectively. USA samples included undergraduate and graduate students in SLP majors or non-SLP majors as well as a sample of non-SLP students who were Native Americans. Polish samples included SLP (logopedics), psychology, and mixed majors.

Results: SLP students held more positive attitudes than non-SLP students in both countries. Graduate students held more positive attitudes than undergraduate students in the USA, and this effect was stronger for SLP than for non-SLP students. Native American students' stuttering attitudes were similar to other American non-SLP students' attitudes. Polish student attitudes were less positive overall than those of their American student counterparts.

Conclusion: SLP students' attitudes toward stuttering are affected by a "halo effect" of being in that major, by specific training in fluency disorders, and by various cultural factors, yet to be clearly understood.

Educational objectives: The reader will be able to: (a) describe major factors affecting SLP students' attitudes toward stuttering; (b) describe similarities and differences in attitudes toward stuttering of students from the USA and Poland; (c) describe similarities and differences in attitudes toward stuttering of Native American students from the USA and non-Native American students.

Keywords: Native American; Poland; Public attitudes; Students; Stuttering.