Stuttering attitudes of students: Professional, intracultural, and international comparisons.
OBJECTIVE
The study sought to identify major-specific, training, and cultural factors affecting attitudes toward stuttering of speech-language pathology (SLP) students.


METHODS
Eight convenience samples of 50 students each from universities in the USA and Poland filled out the Public Opinion Survey of Human Attributes-Stuttering (POSHA-S) in English or Polish, respectively. USA samples included undergraduate and graduate students in SLP majors or non-SLP majors as well as a sample of non-SLP students who were Native Americans. Polish samples included SLP (logopedics), psychology, and mixed majors.


RESULTS
SLP students held more positive attitudes than non-SLP students in both countries. Graduate students held more positive attitudes than undergraduate students in the USA, and this effect was stronger for SLP than for non-SLP students. Native American students' stuttering attitudes were similar to other American non-SLP students' attitudes. Polish student attitudes were less positive overall than those of their American student counterparts.


CONCLUSIONS
SLP students' attitudes toward stuttering are affected by a "halo effect" of being in that major, by specific training in fluency disorders, and by various cultural factors, yet to be clearly understood.


OBJECTIVE
The reader will be able to: (a) describe major factors affecting SLP students' attitudes toward stuttering; (b) describe similarities and differences in attitudes toward stuttering of students from the USA and Poland; (c) describe similarities and differences in attitudes toward stuttering of Native American students from the USA and non-Native American students.
West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA. Electronic address: kstlouis@wvu.edu.
Kenneth O
KO
St Louis
The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland.
Aneta M
AM
Przepiorka
Minot State University, Minot, ND, USA.
Ann
A
Beste-Guldborg
University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD, USA.
Mandy J
MJ
Williams
The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland.
Agata
A
Blachnio
Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, LA, USA.
Jacqueline
J
Guendouzi
Touro College, New York, NY, USA.
Isabella K
IK
Reichel
Ohio University, Athens, OH, USA.
Mercedes B
MB
Ware
D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice / Q000208:ethnology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011044:Poland; D011639:Public Opinion; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D013342:Stuttering / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult
Native American; Poland; Public attitudes; Students; Stuttering