Emotional intelligence of parents and their reaction to a child’s speech disfluency
Inteligencja emocjonalna rodziców a ich reakcje na niepłynność mówienia dziecka

Summary/Abstract: Introduction. The reactions of the father and the mother to a child’s speech disfluency arelikely to differ. The question also arises as to what factors form their reactions.Aim. The aim of the study was the comparison of the mothers’ and the fathers’ reactions toa child’s speech impediment, the assessment of emotional intelligence presented by the parents of children who stutter, as well as establishing the relationship between the emotionalintelligence of the parents and their reaction to a child’s speech impediment.Material and method. The research involved 30 mothers and 30 fathers of 3-6-year-oldstutterers (comprising 22 boys and 8 girls).Results. Reactions of the mothers and fathers to a child’s speech disfluency are similar,whereas the intensity of emotional reactions towards sons was statistically significantlyhigher (p<0.05) in the mothers than in the fathers. Both the overall level of emotionalintelligence and the levels for individual scales were statistically significantly higher in themothers (p<0.05, p<0.01, p<0.001). A positive relationship of medium strength was foundbetween the capacity for empathy and the cognitive scale as well as between the abilityto control their own emotions and the behavioural scale in the mothers. In the fathersresearched in this study, a positive relationship of medium strength between the ability toempathize and the emotional scale was observed.Conclusion. The level of emotional intelligence appears to be a factor which shapes parents’reactions to children’s speech disfluency.

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