The Prediction and Prevention of Relapse in Stuttering

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Abstract
Some behavior therapy programs are sufficiently powerful to enable all subjects to reach the criterion of being symptom-free. Predicting who will relapse among such patients is important, for they could then be given extra or remedial treatment before relapse eventuates. We report on the success of a locus of control scale in predicting long-term outcome after successful treatment of stuttering. A group of 17 stutterers were scored on the Locus of Control of Behavior scale before and after treatment. Changes in this score during treatment successfully predicted the outcome in 15 of the 17 subjects 10 months later. This replicates an earlier finding. A further six stutterers who had been predicted as being at risk of relapse and who had indeed relapsed 10 months after treatment were given self-control therapy as part of a retreatment package. Ten months later the self-control therapy had appeared to have prevented relapse in four of the six subjects. Changes in the Locus of Control of Behavior scale during this retreatment successfully predicted outcome in five of the six subjects 10 months after treatment.

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