Edinburgh Napier University

  Purpose: Using a multi-dimensional measure of perfectionism: the Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (FMPS: Frost, Marten, Lahart, & Rosenblate, 1990), this study investigates: (a) whether adults who stutter (AWS) display more perfectionistic attitudes and beliefs than those who do not stutter, and (b) whether, in AWS, more
perfectionistic attitudes and beliefs are associated with greater self-reported difficulty communicating verbally and speaking fluently.
Method: In the first analysis, FMPS responses from 81 AWS and 81 matched, normally-fluent controls were analyzed using logistic regression to investigate the relative contributions of four FMPS perfectionism-subscale self-ratings to the likelihood of being in the AWS group. In the subsequent analyses, data from the 81 AWS were analyzed using linear multiple regression to determine which FMPS subscale self-ratings best predicted their Communication-Difficulty and Fluency-Difficulty scores.
Results: Both the likelihood of being a member of the AWS group, and also the magnitude of the AWS group's Communication-Difficulty and Fluency-Difficulty scores, were positively part-correlated to respondents' Concern over Mistakes-Doubts about Actions (CMD) subscale self-ratings but negatively part-correlated to their Personal Standards (PS) subscale self-ratings.
Conclusions: The FMPS profiles of respondents who stutter suggest that, as a group, they are not abnormally perfectionistic overall, but may be (or perceive themselves to be) abnormally error-prone. Also, AWS who are more concerned about their errors and uncertain
of their actions experience more difficulty communicating verbally and speaking fluently.