Studying Associations Among Mental Health and PsyCap in Persons With Stuttering.

Abstract

This cross-sectional, psychometric validation and comparative analysis study investigates the associations between mental health and Psychological Capital (PsyCap) in persons with stuttering (PWS; n = 60) and fluent speakers (FS; n = 60), while validating the Tamil translations of the Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF) and Psychological Capital Questionnaire (PCQ). Exploratory Factor Analyses, Cronbach's alphas, and item-total correlations were used to evaluate the scales with a sample size of 120 participants. The conducted factor analyses demonstrated that the translated MHC-SF aligns structurally with prior studies, as compared to the PCQ, which diverged in factor loadings. The study also applied Independent Samples t-tests, revealing significant differences among comparison groups. PWS reported lower mental health and PsyCap levels than FS, emphasizing psychosocial challenges as stuttering as inversely correlated with mental health and PsyCap dimensions-hope, self-efficacy, resilience, and optimism. In conjunction with offering preliminary validated tools, the study findings advocate for increased, holistic mental health approaches within traditional speech therapy to enhance the quality of life for PWS. Furthermore, this study underscores the importance of addressing cultural considerations when conducting future research and therapeutic practices with this population.