The impact of family educational program on self-esteem of children with stuttering who were referred to speech therapy centers in Isfahan in 2016

Abstract

Background and objectives: self-esteem plays an important role in children's mental health. Self-esteem is created in interacting with others, leading to a positive self-image and emergence of valuable sense in the person and it is the factor of success in children at different stages of life. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of family educational program on self-esteem in children with stuttering, who referred to speech therapy centers in Isfahan. Methods: this is a quasi-experimental study conducted in 2016 in Isfahan in speech therapy centers of Isfahan city. First, all available samples were selected and Cooper Smith Questionnaire was completed. Subjects of study included 24 children aged 10-18 years with stuttering who met the inclusion criteria of study. Then, the research subjects were divided into control and intervention groups using random sampling method. The intervention was 8-session educational program in which control group followed their normal daily schedule and intervention group participated in speech therapy center in educational program once a week. Four months after sampling, questionnaires were completed again and data were analyzed using SPSS 16 software. Findings: the results indicated that the mean score of self-esteem in children of the experimental group increased from 22.3 to 30.4 and independent t-test showed that the mean scores had significant differences between the two experimental and intervention groups (P< 0.001), but mean score of self-esteem in children of control group was almost equal. Conclusions: the results of the study showed that the use of an educational program tailored to the age could leave positive impact on promoting the self-esteem of children. Therefore, it is recommended that educational program to be used in order to promote the children's psychological and social health of children aged 10 to 18 years. © 2018 Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications. All rights reserved.