Effectiveness of Assertiveness Skills Training on Decreasing Social Anxiety of Children with Stuttering

Stuttering is one of the most common speech disorders which can cause anxiety, lack of self-confidence, depression, poor communication and finally the isolation and avoidance from social situations. The purpose of the present research was to examine the effectiveness of assertiveness skills training on decreasing social anxiety in boys with stuttering.
This research was a quasi-experimental study with a pre-test/post-test design and control group. The statistical population consisted of all boys with stuttering in 4th and 5th grade referred to speech therapy centers in Rasht in 93-94, of whom a sample of 24 boys were selected through convenience sampling. They were then randomly assigned into two (control and experimental) groups. To collect the data, La Greca& Stone`s social anxiety scale for children (1993; revised) was used. After implementing pre-test, the assertiveness skills training program was conducted for the experimental group in four weeks, two sessions per week in a period of one and half hour per session and at last, post-test was conducted. Obtained data were analyzed by univariate and multivariate analysis of covariance.
Results showed that assertiveness skills training could decrease social anxiety (235.67) and subscales of fear of negative evaluation (96.07), social avoidance and distress –specific (101.03), and social avoidance and distress-general (79.54) of experimental group (p≤0.001).
According to the results of the present study, it can be concluded that assertiveness skills training can be used as one of the key intervention and therapy methods of people suffering from stuttering.