Locus of control and maintenance of behavioural therapy skills

Thirty stutterers were treated in an intensive behavioural therapy programme in which speech and behavioural skills are taught. Treatment was shown to be effective in the long term in eliminating most stuttering behaviour. The effect of therapy on the stutterer's long-term perceptions of self-control was investigated. Those clients who attributed positive treatment effects to their own efforts or control also maintained their improvement in the behaviours acquired during therapy. Further planned research is needed to clarify whether attributions of self-control contribute to the client's ability to maintain therapy skills.