Social validation of post-treatment outcomes of adults who stutter who participated in CARE Model treatment: replication and extension.

Only 10 adults who stutter provided the videos, so the public ratings cover a small treatment cohort. There was no untreated control, waitlist control, comparison treatment, or non-stuttering control group, so the study cannot show that CARE Model treatment caused the ratings change. The CARE Model includes communication competence, advocacy, resiliency, and education, and this study cannot separate the contribution of any single component. Post-treatment videos were made about one week after the final session, so the study does not show whether public perceptions last. The videos were recorded over Zoom, so in-person communication may be rated differently. Observer age, ethnicity, and knowing a person who stuttered influenced ratings, although the main gain remained after adjustment. The supplied text does not describe the treatment sessions in detail, so clinicians cannot see what participants received beyond the CARE Model label. The authors state that public ratings should not take priority over participant self-perception, so these ratings are not a clinical success criterion.

The authors declare that no financial support was received for the research or publication.

Do not read the public ratings as proof that CARE Model treatment causes better communication. The study had no control group, used videos from only 10 adults who stutter, and measured only about one week after treatment. It also cannot separate the contribution of the CARE Model components.