Time to talk about stuttering: A cross-sectional study about the beliefs and attitude of adolescents toward stuttering

Introduction

This study investigated the attitude of Belgian (Flemish) high school students of 15 years and older toward stuttering, compared them with international samples and evaluated the impact of an attitude program about stuttering.

Method

Nine schools participated in this study. The students completed the POSHA-S before and after the program. The program consisted of a class discussion guided by a PowerPoint presentation about six stuttering-related topics and the song Time To Talk, written for this project by Portland. The first questionnaire was filled out by N = 582. For N = 229, answers from pre- and post-intervention could be matched.

Results

In general, female adolescents had a more positive attitude toward people who stutter, as did students from the highest education level. Catholic and atheist adolescents differed from Islamic adolescents, as well as adolescents who were born in Belgium from those who were born in another country, for one construct (cause of stuttering). The scores of the Belgian sample showed a similar variability as those of the other European samples and the POSHA-S database. A statistically significant attitude change was observed after the attitude program for helping people who stutter (Pre M = 37.35 versus Post M = 47.59, p < .001).

Conclusion

Mainly the variables sex and type of education explain observed attitude differences among the adolescents. Adding music to an attitude program about stuttering seems a viable way to increase better insight in how to help people who stutter in adolescents aged 15 and older.