Study of the Communication Attitude of Slovenian Children Who Do and Do Not Stutter

Mateja Gačnik, Martine Vanryckeghem

Abstract


Data of investigations with the Communication Attitude Test (CAT) have shown this standardized test to be an internally reliable and valid instrument for differentiating children who stutter (CWS) from those who do not (CWNS). The present study’s aim was to obtain preliminary normative and comparative data of the communication attitude of fluent and stuttering grade-school children using a Slovenian version of the CAT (CAT-SLO). In addition, the effect of stuttering severity and age on the CAT scores were investigated. Preliminary data on item and discriminant analysis are presented. The CAT-SLO was administered to 136 CWNS and 58 CWS. The Stuttering Severity Instrument (SSI) was used to determine stuttering severity. The CWS scored statistically significantly higher on the CAT-SLO than the CWNS. Stuttering severity did not seem to play a role in the extent of the negative speech-associated attitude. Communication attitude was differentially affected by age among the CWS, but not for the CWNS. Four items did not discriminate significantly between the two participant groups. Overall, the CAT-SLO has shown to have a high discriminant power. This test is a useful tool in the assessment of grade-school CWS as the first Slovenian calibrated instrument for the evaluation of communication attitude.


Keywords


Communication attitude test; CAT; Stuttering; Speech-associated attitude; Children

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References


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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3968/%25x

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