Perceptions of self-efficacy in providing multidimensional school-age stuttering therapy among board certified fluency specialists in the United States

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to document fluency specialists’ self-efficacy beliefs for providing multidimensional treatment to children who stutter and to identify cognitive, affective, and behavioral correlates of self-efficacy. Method: Sixty-six Board Certified Specialists in Fluency in the United States completed an online survey measuring self-efficacy in providing multidimensional stuttering therapy, perceived importance of multidimensional aspects of therapy, feelings of comfort in providing therapy, perceived treatment success, and employment and demographic questions. Open-ended questions were also asked for participants to describe why they chose to specialize and what benefits they received from it. Results: Participants reported high levels of self-efficacy (averages above 9 on a scale from 0 to 10) in speech-related, cognitive, emotional, and social domains of stuttering therapy, as well as high levels of comfort and clinical success. Higher ratings of overall self-efficacy were significantly correlated with beliefs about the importance of multidimensional treatment, τ = 0.27, treatment comfort, τ = 0.25, and self-reported treatment success, τ = .49. Responses indicated that many participants believed that their self-efficacy grew because of specialty certification. Conclusion: Although not the same as treatment outcome data, self-efficacy among clinical service providers is an important variable to consider. Board Certified Specialists in Fluency in the United States report very high levels of self-efficacy for school-age stuttering treatment. The process of certification helps to increase self-efficacy and provides a means for advertising competence in stuttering treatment. This information could help in recruiting the next generation of fluency specialists.