A comparison of stuttering attitudes among nonstuttering children and parents in bosnia & herzegovina

Abstract

Purpose: A growing body of research has addressed children's stuttering attitudes between preschool and upper elementary school. Attitudes among preschoolers and kindergarteners have been reported to be much lower that fifth graders' attitudes, at which time children's attitudes seemingly converge with their parents' attitudes. It has been suggested these observed changes align with children's social and cognitive development and are resistant to the influence of other variables, such as their culture. The purposes of this study were (a) to extend cultural examinations of children's stuttering attitudes in a sample of kindergarteners through sixth graders in Bosnia & Herzegovina (B&H), and (b) to compare their attitudes with their parents' attitudes. Methods: One hundred eighty-six child-parent pairs from B&H completed translated versions of the child and adult Public Opinion Survey of Human Attributes-Stuttering (POSHAS/Child and POSHA-S). Four child cohorts were examined: (a) kindergarteners, (b) first and second graders, (c) third and fourth graders, and (d) fifth and sixth graders. Results: Children's stuttering attitudes improved with age, with the youngest cohort holding the most negative attitudes. Parents held consistently more positive attitudes than the children overall, but the oldest children's attitudes were quite similar to the parent group. Conclusions: Confirming previous research, children's stuttering attitudes progressively improved with age and approached the attitudes of their parents by fifth and sixth grade.