Locus of Control Comparison in Adults Who Stutter and Who Do not Stutter

Locus of control (LOC) orientation is one of the personality traits that have been found to be important for adults who stutter (AWS) in terms of treatment outcome and its predictive value on maintenance of treatment gains. Due to its culturally sensitive nature, we aimed to compare AWS with adults who do not stutter (AWNS) in Turkey. We also examined LOC score differences in terms of treatment-related conditions and self-help support group (SHSG) participation among AWS. The participants completed Rotter’s Internal-External LOC (I-E LOC) Scale and a participant information form. These forms were combined into a single electronic format and sent to the participants recruited through convenience sampling. SHSG participants were reached via their official social media account. Group differences were examined using descriptive and inferential statistics. No statistically significant difference was observed between AWS and AWNS. SHSG participation, treatment involvement and other treatment-related conditions did not yield statistically significant I-E LOC score differences among AWS subgroups, either. General LOC measurement might not be suitable for examining treatment-related group differences in AWS as none of our observations produced statistically significant results. Self-efficacy or speech-related LOC measurements can be used to expand current literature in this cultural setting. This study has potential clinical implications while working with AWS.

控制点（Locus of control, LOC）倾向是口吃成人（Adults Who Stutter, AWS）的重要人格特质之一，其对口吃成人的治疗效果及治疗获益维持具有预测价值。鉴于其具有文化敏感性，本研究旨在对比土耳其境内的口吃成人与非口吃成人（Adults Who Do Not Stutter, AWNS）的控制点倾向。此外，本研究还探讨了口吃成人在自助支持小组（Self-Help Support Group, SHSG）参与情况、治疗参与度及其他治疗相关条件下的控制点得分差异。研究参与者需完成罗特内外控制点（Internal-External LOC, I-E LOC）量表与参与者信息问卷，上述问卷整合为单一电子格式后，发送给通过便利抽样招募的参与者；自助支持小组参与者则通过其官方社交媒体账号完成招募。本研究采用描述性与推断性统计方法分析组间差异。结果显示，口吃成人与非口吃成人的控制点倾向无统计学显著性差异；口吃成人亚组在自助支持小组参与情况、治疗参与度及其他治疗相关条件下的内外控制点得分，亦未表现出统计学显著性差异。本研究结果提示，一般控制点测量或不适用于探讨口吃成人的治疗相关组间差异，本次观测未得到任何具有统计学意义的结果。在该文化语境下，可采用自我效能感或言语相关控制点测量以拓展现有研究文献。本研究对口吃成人的临床干预工作具有潜在参考价值。