Stuttering attitudes in Hong Kong and adjacent Mainland China

Abstract

The present study aims at studying the public attitudes towards stuttering in Hong Kong and Mainland China. Translated Chinese versions of the Public Opinion Survey of Human Attributes-Stuttering (POSHA-S) were distributed to convenience samples in Hong Kong and Mainland China, with a total number of 175 completed questionnaires returned in each sampling region (n 5 350). Mean ratings of respondents from Hong Kong and Mainland China were similar in most comparisons; yet, a few differences were noted. Larger but idiosyncratic differences characterized the Chinese respondents compared to more than 4000 respondents from numerous countries and languages around the world in the POSHA-S database archive. Overall, they documented aspects of stereotypes and potential stigma with respect to people who stutter. While premature to provide unambiguous conclusions, results suggest that Chinese respondents have unique stuttering attitudes.