Changes in stuttering in relation to children's locus of control

The locus of control of stuttering children before, during, and after treatment for dysfluency was investigated. Subjects participated in a one-week program combining delayed auditory feedback and training of parents to negotiate and implement contracts for their child's practice of stutter-free speech skills. The Children's Nowicki-Strickland Scale was used to measure locus of control before, immediately after, two months after, and six months after the training. Measures of speech dysfluency were available at each of these times and documented the effectiveness of treatment in reducing stuttering. The locus of control scores for stuttering children prior to treatment were comparable to normative groups. Internality on the locus of control measure prior to treatment was directly related to degree of change in dysfluency immediately following the one-week clinic, but not to dysfluency levels at the 2-month or 6-month follow-up sessions. Concomitant with improved speech, the children became progressively more internal following treatment. The results suggest that participation in a behavioral program for the treatment of stuttering increases internality.