Modified Erickson Communication Attitude Scale (S-24) and Investigation of its Normative Scores for Japanese Speakers

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to verify the usefulness of a Japanese version of the Erickson S-24, a questionnaire that measures communication attitudes, for assessing stuttering. The study investigated the standardized S-24 scores for people who do not stutter, and also collected scores from previous studies for people who stutter and those who do not. The participants were 413 people who do not stutter, aged between 20 and 69. The mean and standard deviations of their S-24 scores were 12.62 and 4.90, respectively. There were no significant differences in scores by age group or gender. High internal consistency and test-retest reliability were found. For the previous studies in Japan, the mean and standard deviation scores were 17.57 and 4.62, respectively, for people who stutter, and 12.96 and 4.89, respectively, for those who do not stutter, indicating significant differences in effect. These results suggest that the S-24 has high reliability and construct validity, and would be useful for assessing stuttering.