Success in changing stuttering attitudes: A retrospective analysis of 29 intervention studies

Against the backdrop of hundreds of studies documenting negative stereotypes and stigma held by the public regarding people who stutter, a substantial number of investigations have attempted to improve public attitudes and measure their results with a standard instrument, the Public Opinion Survey of Human Attributes-Stuttering (POSHA-S). Although the majority of interventions have been moderately to quite successful, a substantial minority have been unsuccessful.

This study sought to determine what properties of interventions and demographic variables were predictive of least to most successful interventions. Preliminary to that, however, it required the division of samples into clearly differentiated categories of success.

Twenty-nine different study samples containing 934 participants were categorized into four levels of success of interventions according to pre versus post POSHA-S summary mean ratings. Intervention properties and demographic characteristics and for each success category were analyzed for their predictive potential of successful attitude improvement.

Interventions characterized by high interest or involvement, meaningful material, and content that respondents found to be relevant, but not excessive, tended to be associated with more successful interventions. In contrast, demographic variables were weak predictors of intervention success.

The authors hypothesize that maximally effective interventions reflect optimal matches between participant characteristics and intervention features, although the critical variables in each are not yet apparent.