The Public Opinion Survey of Human Attributes-Stuttering (POSHA-S) and Bipolar Adjective Scale (BAS): aspects of validity

Kenneth O St Louis; Mandy J Williams; Mercedes B Ware; Jacqueline Guendouzi; Isabella K Reichel

doi:10.1016/j.jcomdis.2014.04.001

The Public Opinion Survey of Human Attributes-Stuttering (POSHA-S) and Bipolar Adjective Scale (BAS): aspects of validity

J Commun Disord. 2014 Jul-Aug:50:36-50. doi: 10.1016/j.jcomdis.2014.04.001. Epub 2014 May 5.

Authors

Kenneth O St Louis¹, Mandy J Williams², Mercedes B Ware³, Jacqueline Guendouzi⁴, Isabella K Reichel⁵

Affiliations

¹ West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA. Electronic address: kstlouis@wvu.edu.
² University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD, USA.
³ Ohio University, Athens, OH, USA.
⁴ Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, LA, USA.
⁵ Touro College, New York, NY, USA.

PMID: 24929998
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcomdis.2014.04.001

Abstract

Purpose: In order to estimate instrument validity, attitudes toward stuttering measured by the newly developed Public Opinion Survey of Human Attributes-Stuttering (POSHA-S) and the Woods and Williams (1976) semantic differential scale (referred to herein as the Bipolar Adjective Scale [BAS]) are compared in college students on one occasion as well as before and after coursework on fluency disorders.

Method: Undergraduate and graduate students (n=321) from four universities filled out online versions of the POSHA-S and BAS. Two-thirds were speech-language pathology (SLP) majors; one-third were students in other majors. A subset of the SLP students (n=35) filled out the two instruments again after 8-13 weeks of coursework on fluency disorders.

Results: Correlations between all ratings of the POSHA-S and BAS were run for the 321 students. Only 26% of the correlations were statistically significant (R ≥ ± 0.129), and the large majority of these reflected small relationships. POSHA-S ratings were correlated with up to 77% of the items of the BAS while BAS items were correlated with up to 45% of the POSHA-S ratings. After coursework on stuttering, students' attitudes improved on both instruments, but more on the POSHA-S than the BAS.

Conclusions: Greater evidence of discriminant validity than convergent validity characterized the POSHA-S and BAS. Both measures showed improved attitudes after fluency disorders coursework, but more so for the POSHA-S, confirming previous reports of construct validity. The POSHA-S taps relevant constructs not included in the BAS, which provide advantages for intracultural, international, and other comparisons of public attitudes toward stuttering.

Learning outcomes: The reader will be able to: (1) describe differentiating characteristics of the POSHA-S and BAS as measures of public attitudes toward stuttering, (2) describe the overlap and lack of overlap in the constructs measured by POSHA-S and BAS, (3) describe discriminant versus convergent validity and (4) describe advantages of the POSHA-S and BAS in various types of comparative studies of stuttering attitudes.

Keywords: Attitudes; POSHA-S; Stuttering.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Attitude to Health*
Female
Humans
Male
Mental Disorders / psychology
Middle Aged
Obesity / psychology
Public Opinion*
Reproducibility of Results
Stuttering / psychology*
Surveys and Questionnaires
Young Adult