Improving young children's stuttering attitudes in Poland: Evidence for a cross-cultural stuttering inclusion program

• Published in: Journal of communication disorders 2022-03, Vol.96, p.106183-106183, Article 106183
• Main Authors: Węsierska, Katarzyna, Weidner, Mary
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Attitude; Child; Child, Preschool; Cross-Cultural Comparison; Humans; Poland; Public Opinion; Stuttering - therapy; Surveys and Questionnaires
• ISSN: 0021-9924; 1873-7994
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jcomdis.2022.106183

•Prior to an intervention, nonstuttering preschool and first grade children from Poland held limited knowledge about stuttering and how to supportively respond to peers who stutter.•Children's beliefs about stuttering and reactions toward people who stutter significantly improved following the educational intervention using the Attitude Change and Tolerance Program (InterACT), which provides evidence of the program's cross-cultural utility.•There appears to be a universality in young children's stuttering attitudes. Young, nonstuttering children around the world have been shown to hold negative stuttering attitudes characterized by limited knowledge about stuttering and how to be a helpful listener. Educational programming using the Attitude Change & Tolerance program (Weidner, 2015, InterACT) has shown promise in improving American children's stuttering attitudes (Weidner, St. Louis, & Glover, 2018), but the utility of the program in other countries is unknown. The purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy of the InterACT program among nonstuttering Polish children. This study was a replication of Weidner et al. (2018). Participants included 43 nonstuttering preschool and first grade Polish children. Children's stuttering attitudes were measured using the Public Opinion Survey of Human Attributes–Stuttering/Child (Weidner & St. Louis, 2014) before and after participating in the Polish translation of the InterACT program. Pre-post results showed statistically significant improvements in children's overall stuttering attitudes. Most notably, children became more knowledgeable about how to be a supportive listener. Conclusion: This study provides further evidence that young children worldwide have uninformed or negative stuttering attitudes, which are amenable to improvement. It also provides support for the translatability and cultural relevance of the InterACT program.