Naseem Shafaei, A. Zebedee White, MS, CF-SLP, Courtney T. Byrd, PhD, CCC-SLP
Growth mindset is a person’s belief that ability is developed through hard work, while fixed mindset is the belief that ability is innate and does not change. In recent years, growth mindset relating to intelligence (i.e., the belief that intelligence is developed through hard work) has been associated with higher academic achievement, increased positive self-image, and lowered risk for depression. Stuttering is a neurophysiological speech disorder with a genetic predisposition that can yield deleterious behavioral, cognitive, and affective consequences in children and adults who stutter. Although growth mindset has not explicitly been studied relating to stuttering, existing research supports the idea that growth mindset relating to communication may support positive outcomes in persons who stutter (PWS). This study will investigate whether communication-related mindset predicts improvements in communication competence in PWS over the course of a three-month stuttering treatment program at The Michael and Tami Lang Stuttering Institute (LSI). Eighteen participants (8 children and 10 adults) participated in this study and received comprehensive therapy at LSI targeting overall communication. Self-report questionnaires administered before therapy tapping mindset indicated that 15 out of 18 participants exhibited a growth mindset relating to communication. Expert raters assessed the communication competence demonstrated by participants at the onset and conclusion of therapy. Results will provide insight into the role of mindset in therapeutic outcomes for PWS. Preliminary findings will be discussed with an emphasis on clinical implications for the assessment and treatment of children and adults who stutter.
Comments
This is meaningful work to apply growth mindset research to support individuals who stutter. The clinical implications and future directions are actionable and impactful too. Thanks for doing this work! – Janelle Lim
Very interesting project and poster! Thank you for sharing this work. – Jeanette Herman
In terms of design, I really like this poster — the Stuttering Institute’s in-house style for posters always looks good, and here it’s complemented by the images. It’s good to see how the Likert scale questions looked (especially to child participants), and the photos immediately capture notions of growth and communication. Very pleased to see the clinical implications discussed as well! – Rob Reichle