Self-esteem, self-efficacy, and social support as predictors of communicative participation in adults who stutter

Purpose: This study aimed to identify contributors to communicative participation in adults who stutter. Specifically, it was of interest to determine whether psychosocial variables of self-esteem, self-efficacy, and social support were predictive of communicative participation beyond contributions of demographic and speech-related variables. Method: Adults who stutter (N = 339) completed an online survey that included measures of communicative participation, self-esteem, self-efficacy, social support, self-reported speech-related variables (speech usage, number of years stuttering, history of treatment and self-help support group participation for stuttering, and physical speech disruption severity), and demographics (age, sex, living situation, education, and employment status). Hierarchical regression was performed for prediction of communicative participation, in addition to calculating Spearman correlations between social roles variables, communicative participation, and physical speech disruption severity. Results: After controlling for demographic and speech-related variables, self-esteem, self-efficacy, and social support each significantly predicted communicative participation in adults who stutter. Large correlations were observed between communicative participation and measures of social roles, whereas medium correlations were observed between physical speech disruption severity and measures of social roles. Conclusions: Communicative participation in adults who stutter is associated with a variety of demographic, speech-related, and psychosocial variables. Speech-language pathologists should be aware of predictors of communicative participation such as self-esteem, self-efficacy, and social support, in addition to severity of physical speech disruptions. They should consider and evaluate these factors in clients who stutter and target them in treatment if necessary.