Locus of Causality Comparison of Male Adults Who Do and Do Not Stutter

Objectives: The locus of causality (LOC) is suggested to be a reliable and valid indicator of intrinsic features of adults who stutter (AWS). However there has been no study directly comparing the LOC of Korean AWS and adults who do not stutter (AWNS). The purpose of the current study is to determine whether there would be a difference in LOC between AWS and AWNS, and communication-related and general LOC. Methods: The current study analyzed writing samples of 15 AWS and 15 AWNS, and determined whether there would be a difference in the Origin scores, Pawn scores, and Origin-Pawn score ratios according to the status of the participants (AWS vs. AWNS) and two writing conditions (communication-related vs. general topic writing). The relationships between the LOC scores and locus of control of behavior (LCB) scores were determined. Results: Communication-related Pawn scores of AWS were significantly higher than those of AWNS. However there was no significant difference in the other LOC indicators between AWS and AWNS. Moreover, there was no significant difference in the LCB scores between AWS and AWNS, and no significant relationship between the LOC and locus of control scores. Conclusion: The results showed that the high communication-related Pawn scores would be distinctive features of AWS. In addition communication-related attitudes would be the result of natural responses toward the long history of stuttering. These results suggest that intrinsic features such as LOC should be an important target area for stuttering assessment and enhanced agency should be an important treatment goal.