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

• College major, training, and cultural factors affecting attitudes toward stuttering of college students were investigated in the USA and Poland.
• Students in speech-language pathology (SLP) held better attitudes than non-SLP students in both countries, illustrating a “halo effect”.
• Stuttering attitudes of USA graduate students were better than undergraduate students, more so for SLP than for non-SLP students.
• Native American students’ stuttering attitudes were similar to American non-SLP students’ attitudes but better than Polish non-SLP students’ attitudes.
• Overall, American students’ attitudes were more positive the Polish students’ attitudes toward stuttering.

PurposeThe study sought to identify major-specific, training, and cultural factors affecting attitudes toward stuttering of speech-language pathology (SLP) students.MethodEight 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.ResultsSLP 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.ConclusionSLP 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.