Improving Polish Stuttering Attitudes: An Experimental Study of Teachers and University Students

This quasi-experimental design study in Poland evaluated the effects of a course on stuttering for university students and the effects of an educational workshop for public school teachers, both interventions designed to improve attitudes toward stuttering.

Participants (132 in-service teachers and 75 university students) completed the Polish version of the Public Opinion Survey of Human Attributes-Stuttering (St. Louis, 2011) twice, before and after 2 interventions for experimental groups and 3 months apart for control groups. Experimental teachers participated in a 2-hr workshop dedicated to stuttering. Experimental students enrolled in a 1-semester course wherein multiple activities (including the teacher workshop) were included to generate a comprehensive understanding of stuttering. None of the participants in either control group participated in the academic course for students or workshop for teachers.

Preintervention comparisons for teachers and for students confirmed that participants assigned to either experimental or control groups did not differ significantly on their attitudes toward stuttering. For both experimental teachers and students, the interventions resulted in significant positive changes in stuttering attitudes. Neither control group changed.

This experimental study demonstrated that it is possible to positively modify stuttering attitudes of teachers as well as university students. It has implications for the length, content, and experiential components of interventions designed to improve public attitudes toward stuttering.