ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Public attitudes toward mental illness in two widely disparate cultures, Canada and Cameroon, were compared using an experimental version of a survey instrument, the Public Opinion Survey of Human Attributes-Mental Illness or POSHA-MI(e). METHOD: 120 respondents rated POSHA-MI(e) items relating to mental illness on 1-9 equal appearing interval scales: 30 in English and 30 in French in both Cameroon and Canada. Additionally, 30 matched, monolingual English, American respondents were included as a comparison group. RESULT: In Canada (and in the USA), attitudes were generally more positive and less socially stigmatizing toward mental illness than in Cameroon. Differences between countries were much larger than differences between language groups. CONCLUSION: Consistent with other research, beliefs and reactions of the public regarding mental illness reflect stigma, especially in Cameroon. Cultural influences on these public attitudes are more likely important than language influences. Results of this field test of the POSHA-MI(e), documenting differences in public attitudes toward mental illness in two divergent cultures, support its further development.
Subject(s)
Attitude to Health/ethnology , Culture , Language , Mental Disorders/psychology , Social Stigma , Adult , Cameroon , Canada , Cross-Cultural Comparison , Data Collection , Female , Humans , Male , Self-Assessment , Socioeconomic Factors , Stereotyping , Surveys and Questionnaires , Weights and MeasuresSubject(s)
Communication Disorders/therapy , Speech-Language Pathology , Adult , Female , Humans , Male , Professional Competence , Speech Therapy , Surveys and Questionnaires , WorkforceSubject(s)
Communication Disorders/diagnosis , Comorbidity , Adolescent , Child , Communication Disorders/classification , Female , Humans , Language Tests , Male , Prevalence , Research Design , Speech Discrimination Tests , Speech Perception , Speech Production Measurement , Speech-Language Pathology/trendsABSTRACT
Subjects in grades 1-12 with phonologic disorders were identified and categorized into either Residual or Delayed groups. Group selection was based on a subject rating system of communicative defectiveness and number and type of phonologic errors. The subjects' performance was compared with that of normal individuals on a number of speech and language parameters. The results indicated that voice disorders, deficits in expressive language, and hearing problems occurred in persons exhibiting phonologic disorders with a higher frequency than in the normal individuals.
Subject(s)
Hearing Disorders/complications , Language Disorders/complications , Voice Disorders/complications , Adolescent , Auditory Threshold , Child , Female , Humans , Male , Voice QualityABSTRACT
A 4 1/2-yr.-old stutterer was run on a series of comparative speech tasks and EMG recording periods to assess the potential of using EMG biofeedback-assisted relaxation to reduce stuttering. The basic finding was that the subject was able to reduce the level of tension in the laryngeal area by using EMG biofeedback but not without some difficulty. The effect of EMG biofeedback training on his frequency of stuttering was small but in the direction of less stuttering.
Subject(s)
Biofeedback, Psychology , Electromyography , Stuttering/therapy , Child, Preschool , Humans , Male , Muscle Relaxation , Stuttering/psychologyABSTRACT
Nine language-disordered children were videotaped in counterbalanced dyads (pairs) during a directed play session. A communicative analysis system was used in which communicative interactions were scored for each dyad, then classified as either successful or unsuccessful. Subject dyads varied considerably in both interaction measures. More importantly, some subjects appeared to facilitate communicative interactions while others seemed to impede interactions. The percent of successful interactions correlated with three of four receptive and expressive language measures obtained, whereas number of interactions did not correlate significantly with any ot these measures. The results suggest that communicative interaction analysis is a reliable and potentially useful procedure to aid in understanding language-disordered children.
