Attitudes toward stuttering of speech-language pathology students from Puerto Rico before and after completing the degree

Purpose

This study examines the attitudes towards stuttering of 18 Hispanic students from the University of Puerto Rico, before and after their master’s speech-language pathology (SLP) training, using the Public Opinion Survey of Human Attributes–Stuttering (POSHA–S).

Methods

Two cohorts of students completed the Spanish version of the POSHA–S during initial graduate orientation and post-graduation interviews.

Results

Statistically significant changes were observed in attitudes, with an overall improvement in the Overall Stuttering Score (OSS), Beliefs, and Self Reactions. Fifteen of 62 comparisons

(24 %) were significant, with an average change of 1.6 standard deviations, indicating a “very large” effect size. Pre-training student attitudes were similar to those of the Puerto Rican public but worse than those of Puerto Rican teachers. Compared to > 200 samples in the international POSHA–S database, students’ mean rank increased from pre- to post-training from the 58th percentile to the 79th percentile, reflecting more positive attitudes compared to global data.

Conclusions

The findings demonstrate the effectiveness of graduate training in improving SLP students' attitudes towards stuttering, highlighting a significant positive shift from initial attitudes similar to the public to a more informed perspective post-education. This suggests that SLP training can effectively influence perceptions and beliefs about stuttering.