Self-Efficacy in People with Speech or Language Disorders: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

The construct of self-efficacy has emerged in recent research as potentially influencing outcomes for people with chronic health impairments. Individuals with speech and language disorders have been understudied with regards to whether or not self-efficacy is a significant factor impacting communicative participation. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between self-efficacy and a person's choice to participate in life roles involving communication by inviting the experts (i.e., people with speech or language disorders) to share their experiences. Five adults with aphasia or dysarthria caused by stroke participated in qualitative interviews as part of this study. Interview transcripts were analyzed by applying codes (i.e., key words that represent topics or ideas that participants discussed) and preliminary themes were developed. In general, there was minimal indication that self-efficacy consciously affected participants' decisions to participate in communicative interactions. While most of the participants did not acknowledge purposeful consideration of confidence, or self-efficacy for communicative situations in those specific terms, the experiences they discussed did contain elements of Bandura's (1977) theoretical sources of self-efficacy. Further research is needed to determine self-efficacy's role in communicative participation for adults with speech or language disorders.