A Comparison Of Locus Of Causality And Internal Characteristics Between Mothers Of Children Who Do And Do Not Stutter

Objectives: It is believed that parents' involvement in the evaluation and treatment of children who stutter (CWS) is essential because they can provide important information on CWS and play an important role in helping CWS to be more fluent by changing their environment. However there is little empirical research on the internal characteristics, such as locus of causality of Korean mothers of CWS, which would be an indicator of the stuttering treatment progress. The primary purpose of the current study was to provide basic information on such internal characteristics of mothers of CWS in order to provide necessary information to plan effective intervention program of CWS. Methods: A total of 15 mothers of CWS and 15 mothers of children who do not stutter (CWNS) took part in this study. Internal characteristics, such as locus of causality (Origin and Pawn), locus of control, communication attitude, and anxiety were measured. Results: Among the internal characteristics, only the Pawn scores and trait anxiety scores were statistically significant between the two groups. In addition, the anxiety scores showed significant relationship with the locus of control scores for mothers of CWS. Conclusion: These results suggested that higher Pawn scores would be a typical characteristic for people who stutter and their families. Accordingly, it would be necessary help mothers of CWS to be more agentic in the stuttering treatment through counseling and other approaches.