Communication Anxiety Research Articles

Cultural Self-Efficacy of Canadian Nursing Students Caring for Aboriginal Patients with Diabetes

Cultural self-efficacy refers to how capable one feels functioning in culturally diverse situations. The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of cultural self-efficacy among nursing students, specifically in relation to individuals of Aboriginal ancestry. The authors examined the extent to which intercultural anxiety, intercultural communication, and experience with persons of Aboriginal ancestry predicted two aspects of cultural self-efficacy, namely, knowledge and skills. In this correlational study, non-Aboriginal Canadian nursing students (N = 59) completed a survey assessing these variables. Overall, cultural self-efficacy was rated as moderate by nursing students. Regression analyses indicated that greater intercultural communication skills and experience with persons of Aboriginal ancestry were significant unique predictors of higher cultural knowledge self-efficacy. Greater intercultural communication and lower intercultural anxiety significantly predicted higher cultural skills self-efficacy. The results provide direction to nursing programs interested in facilitating higher levels of cultural self-efficacy among nursing students.

On Treating Intercultural Communication Anxiety of International Students in China

With the policy of reform and opening-up as well as its economic development, China is recruiting more and more international students in many of its universities. Intercultural communication problems in Chinese campuses, however, have until now been seldom mentioned. This paper is an attempt to contribute something to this almost neglected issue in China. Mainly directed at international students coming to China, it has discussed the treatment of intercultural communication anxiety through introducing major aspects of the Chinese culture, cultural comparison and a case study. It is expected that this discussion would also be helpful for the Chinese teachers dealing with international students.

Developing communication competence using an online Video Reflection system: pre-service teachers' experiences

This paper reports on how the cognitive, behavioural and affective communication competencies of undergraduate students were developed using an online Video Reflection system. Pre-service teachers were provided with communication scenarios and asked to record short videos of one another making presentations. Students then uploaded their videos to an online blog and made reflective comments about their communication actions. Students also provided reflective feedback to their peers, which was then used to inform their next presentation attempt. Student responses to a reflective questionnaire indicated that they felt the Video Reflection approach resulted in a significant improvement in their presentation capabilities. Qualitative feedback and online postings indicated that the Video Reflection process improved students' understanding of communication concepts. Students also reported reduction in communication anxiety and an increase in confidence as a result of the Video Reflection system, providing evidence for the interrelationship between the cognitive, behavioural and affective dimensions of communication.

Reducing State Communication Anxiety for Public Speakers: An Energy Psychology Pilot Study

This mixed-method pilot study investigates the efficacy of implementing primordial energy activation and transcendence to address public speaking anxiety. Speech anxiety was significantly reduced from pretest to posttest, as measured by the Communication Anxiety Inventory State. Suggestions for future research, limitations of the current study, and interview responses from participants are included.

The Foreign Language Anxiety in a Medical Office Scale: Developing and Validating a Measurement Tool for Spanish-Speaking Individuals

Communication research has been hindered by a lack of validated measures for Latino populations. To develop and validate a foreign language anxiety in a medical office scale (the Foreign Language Anxiety in a Medical Office Scale [FLAMOS]), the authors conducted a survey of low income, primarily Spanish-speaking Latinos (N = 100). The scale factored into a unidimensional construct and showed high reliability (α = .92). The Foreign Language Anxiety in a Medical Office Scale also demonstrated convergent and divergent validity compared with other communication anxiety scales (Personal Report of Communication Apprehension–24, Communication Anxiety Inventory, and Recipient Apprehension Test), and predictive validity for acculturation measures (the Short Acculturation Scale for Hispanics). The Foreign Language Anxiety in a Medical Office Scale provides a validated measure for researchers and may help to explain Latino health care communication barriers.

The Emergence of the Neo-American: Communication Anxiety in Native Speaker

The Emergence of the Neo-American: Communication Anxiety in Native Speaker

Online posting anxiety: impacts on blogging

This study investigates what influences the blog-maintenance intentions of American and Chinese bloggers. Specifically, the current study investigates the role of online posting anxiety and its determinants. Based on social cognitive theory (SCT), this study suggests that bloggers experience anxiety because of their low blogging self-efficacy, negative outcome expectations, and the specific characteristics of blogs. To investigate this hypothesis, in-depth interviews were conducted to examine the nature of online posting anxiety among American and Chinese bloggers. Ten American and 16 Chinese bloggers were interviewed online about their beliefs pertaining to blogging self-efficacy, negative outcome expectations, and online posting anxiety. The current research therefore makes a unique and original contribution, in that this research applies social cognitive concepts to explain online posting anxiety in a computer-mediated communication (CMC) domain.

Problematic Internet use, loneliness and dating anxiety among young adult university students

The Internet, an important modern means of obtaining information and establishing communication with others, has become an increasingly essential element of human life. Although Internet use makes life easier, it can become problematic in the event of non-functional use. Debate and research into whether Internet addiction is a cause or an effect are continuing. This study investigates problematic Internet use among young adult university students and examines correlation between problematic Internet use and loneliness and dating anxiety. University student Internet use patterns are also investigated. The study was conducted among 493 students from the Karadeniz Technical University Fatih Faculty of Education. The Online Cognition Scale, Dating Anxiety Scale, Loneliness Scale and Personal Information Questionnaire were employed in the collection of data. Pearson correlation analysis, the t-test, one-way analysis of variance and chi-square test were used for data analysis. The Pearson correlation analysis results reveal a significant positive correlation between problematic Internet use and loneliness ( r = 0.194, p < 0.001), communication anxiety ( r = 0.15, p < 0.001), unpopularity anxiety ( r = 0.174, p < 0.001) and physiological symptoms ( r = 0.125, p < 0.001) dating anxiety sub-scales. One-way analysis of variance was used to examine whether problematic Internet use varies according to length of Internet use, and a significantly high level of problematic Internet use was observed among those going online for more than 5 h a day compared to other users ( F = 14.327, p < 0.001). Chi-square results reveal a significant association between length of Internet use and how students feel when they do not go online (chi-square = 116.543, p < 0.001). The t-test was used to determine whether there was a significant difference in levels of Internet use according to gender, and levels of problematic Internet use were significantly higher among male students than females ( t = 4.046, p < 0.001).

Willingness to communicate and action control

Abstract Being willing to communicate is part of becoming fluent in a second language, which often is the ultimate goal of L2 learners. Julius Kuhl's theory of action control is introduced as an expansion of the conceptual framework for the study of Willingness to Communicate. Kuhl proposed three key concepts, preoccupation, volatility, and hesitation, which form part of the base from which WTC in the second language is built. In essence, we propose that a lack of WTC inside and outside the language classroom is related to tendencies for a disruption in action control. Using path analysis, we find support for the proposed model that also integrates perceived competence and communication anxiety. Implications for the trait and dynamic conceptions of WTC are discussed.

The Relationship Between Counseling Self-Efficacy and Communication Skills of Volunteer Rape Crisis Advocates

This research examines the relationships between communication competence, communication anxiety, and five subdimensions of counseling self-efficacy. The sample consists of volunteers trained at two rape crisis centers (n = 63) over a one-year period. As hypothesized, communication anxiety was negatively related and communication competence positively related to the subdimensions of counseling self-efficacy. Results suggest that training programs need to be aware of how personality characteristics may affect a volunteer's ability to become an efficacious counselor. Implications for how rape crisis centers can integrate these communication issues into their training programs and improve the self-efficacy of their advocates are discussed.

Participación de la madre y la familia en la atención del niño hospitalizado: Análisis histórico y visión de futuro

Background : Although it is believed that the best kid pediatrician is his own mother, she is excluded in his attention when hospitalized. Since 1925, changes allow the mother accompany her hospitalized child, initially in Europe and soon after in other countries. Beneficial effects in mothers participation include: manteinance of affective and nutritional status, decrease in nosocomial infections, improvement of duel reaction and minor cost hospitalization. Few difficulties appear related to disturbances of family dynamics, maternal anxiety and alterations in communication. Objective : To review the development of family participation in infant hospitalization worldwide, with emphasis in our hospital. Identify those aspects that strengthen and those that interfere with this modality of attention. Experience : In the Pediatrics Service from Complejo Hospitalario San Borja-Arriaran at Santiago of Chile, a change in attention modality began in 1989, integrating the mother to the activities of the health team in charge of the attention of her hospitalized son, with clear benefits for the child, its family and the hospital care, in terms of life-quality and less cost in medical attention. Conclusions : For making suitable this modality of hospitalization, the mother who works requires support when its economic entrance is a significant contribution to the family group, psychological assistance to the family in prolonged hospitalizations, structural modifications when building future hospitals and adjustment to the model of attention by the health team, in order to integrate the mother in a more permanent way.

Uncertainty, anxiety, and avoidance in communication with strangers

Anxiety/uncertainty management theory explains interpersonal and intergroup communication. It suggests that managing uncertainty and anxiety are central processes that affect our communication with strangers and that the anxiety and uncertainty that we experience when we communicate with others are related to each other. This research is concerned with the association of anxiety and uncertainty with avoidance in interpersonal and intercultural communication. The effect of anxiety and uncertainty on avoidance was examined through communication between strangers of the same and different cultures. The results indicate that anxiety and uncertainty are associated with avoidance in communication with strangers from both the same and different cultures. Furthermore, the data suggest that anxiety and uncertainty may be good predictors of avoidance. When studying communication between strangers of a different culture, anxiety and uncertainty were found to be associated with one another. Nevertheless, anxiety and uncertainty were not related to each other in communication between strangers of the same culture. These results provide partial support for AUM theory.

An Examination of State Communication Anxiety, Communication Medium, and Trait Social Anxiety

An Examination of State Communication Anxiety, Communication Medium, and Trait Social Anxiety

The relationship between anxiety and stuttering: a multidimensional approach

The relationship between anxiety and stuttering is equivocal from both clinical and empirical perspectives. This study examined the relationship within the framework of the multidimensional interaction model of anxiety that includes an approach to general anxiety in specific situations [J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 60 (1991) 919]. Ninety-four males aged 18–43, half disfluent speakers and half fluent speakers completed two questionnaires: The Trait Anxiety Inventory [C.D. Spielberger, R.L. Gorsuch, R.E. Lushene, Manual for the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (Self Evaluation Questionnaire), Consulting Psychologists Press, Palo Alto, CA, 1970] and the Speech Situation Checklist [G.J. Brutten, Neurolinguistic Approaches to Stuttering, Mouton, The Hague; G.J. Brutten, Stuttering: A Second Symposium, Harper and Row, New York, 1973; G.J. Brutten, P. Janssen, Proceedings 18th Congress of the International Association of Logopedics and Phoniatrists, Washington, DC, 1975; M. Vanryckeghem, Proceedings of the XXIVth Congress of the International Association of Logopedists and Phoniatrists, Nijmegen University Press, Nijmegen, 1981]. In addition, after performing speech and non-speech tasks, participants evaluated their level of anxiety on a subjective scale, labeled Task-Related Anxiety—TRA. The stuttering group also evaluated the level of severity of their stuttering. Findings indicate that trait anxiety is higher among people who stutter compared to fluent speakers, thus indicating that anxiety is a personality trait of people who stutter. State anxiety in social communication is higher among severe stutterers as compared to mild stutterers and fluent speakers. Thus, state anxiety is related to stuttering severity. The results are discussed in the frame of the multidimensional model of anxiety. Educational objectives: The reader will be able to: (1) describe the multidimensional anxiety model; (2) extend the model to the relations between stuttering and anxiety; (3) describe stuttering severity in relation to the levels of anxiety within the model.

Viewer Aggression and Attraction to Television Talk Shows

Guided by the uses and gratifications perspective, we examined how dispositional factors--aggression, anger, attitudes toward women, and communication anxiety and reward--and television-viewing factors--motivation, attitudes, topics, emotions, and parasocial interaction--explained attraction to different TV talk shows. We considered how these dispositional and viewing factors discriminated among different talk show preferences and different levels of aggression. Compared with The Oprah Winfrey Show viewers, Jerry Springer viewers thought shows were less realistic; enjoyed watching voyeuristic topics and guests' being angry, embarrassed, shocked, and hurt; watched to be entertained and excited rather than to be informed; and developed fewer parasocial relationships. Compared with persons with low levels of aggression, those with high levels of aggression were angry; had negative attitudes toward women; enjoyed watching guests' being embarrassed, angry, shocked, and hurt; thought others did not value their interpersonal interactions; and watched talk shows more often, especially to interact with others. We discuss the implications of these findings.

The Role of Gender and Immersion in Communication and Second Language Orientations

Learning a second language (L2) in Cape Breton offers a unique challenge to students given that the southeastern portion of the island (where this study was conducted) is essentially unilingual (English). Despite Canada's reputation as a bilingual nation, nonimmersion students in this study would receive at the most only about an hour of second language speaking opportunities per day inside a classroom. However, in reality, the nonimmersion classroom tends to be structured so that emphasis is placed on grammar, and very little L2 conversation takes place. Contrast this with students in immersion programs, who are expected to use the second language inside and outside the classroom, both for instruction and for social interaction at school. Immersion programs have been praised for the greater advantages they offer students, and immersion students are often thought to be more proficient at using the L2 than nonimmersion students. At the time of this study, there had been no research that directly compared high school immersion and nonimmersion students from the same linguistic landscape on nonlinguistic language‐related outcomes, such as attitudes, orientations for learning, and communication affect. Such a comparison might have pedagogical implications, especially for teachers who provide little opportunity for actual L2 use.The present study examines the nonlinguistic outcomes of an immersion versus a nonimmersion program. The dependent variables included attitudes toward learning French, orientations for learning, willingness to communicate, communication anxiety, perceived communicative competence, and self‐reported frequency of communication in both English (L1) and French (L2). A qualitative section was included that asked students to describe some negative and positive experiences in speaking French and their reactions to these experiences.Compared with the nonimmersion students, immersion students indicated higher willingness to communicate, lower communication anxiety, higher perceived communicative competence, and more frequent communication only in the French language. Among the nonimmersion students, perceived competence was strongly correlated with willingness to communicate, but among the immersion students, communication anxiety correlated most strongly with willingness to communicate. The obtained gender differences indicated that male nonimmersion students showed the least positive attitudes toward learning French; female nonimmersion students showed higher endorsement of 3 of the 4 language learning orientations. The qualitative analysis revealed that negative experiences speaking French, while unpleasant for both immersion and nonimmersion students, may have actually enhanced their motivation. [The present article appeared in Language Learning, 50(2), 2000, 311–341]

The effects of skills training on communication satisfaction and communication anxiety in the basic speech course

This study was designed to test the effects of skills training and experience on communication satisfaction and communication anxiety in the basic speech course. Skills training was operationalized as completion of COMM 15000, Theory and Practice of Oral Discourse, and experience was operationalized as multiple rhetorical performances. The results showed that students of the basic speech course experienced an increase in communication satisfaction and a decrease in communication anxiety following skills training for this sample. Moreover, highly apprehensive students reported being more satisfied with their communication interchanges following completion of the basic speech course.

The validity of the PRECA as an index of interethnic communication apprehension

The purpose of this study was to assess the predictive validity of the Personal Report of interethnic Communication Apprehension (Neuliep & McCroskey, 1997). The PRECA was found to be negatively associated with participants’ communication satisfaction and positively associated with their anxiety following interactions with individuals from other ethnic groups. The PRECA was also found to be a better predictor of these outcomes than the more general measure of communication apprehension, the PRCA‐24 (McCroskey, 1982). However, High ECAs who interacted with a different ethnicity partner did not differ in their communication satisfaction or anxiety from those who interacted with someone of the same ethnicity. Our findings, therefore, provide only mixed support for the utility of the PRECA.

Students Go to Court: Experiential Learning about Domestic Violence

A unique educational module focused on domestic violence was developed at a large southeastern university to prepare nurses to deal with the complexities of family violence. This module included experiential learning to capture the full impact of violence, desensitize students to the “stories” of violence, and encourage maturity as the students developed wisdom beyond classroom knowledge. The goals were for students to recognize violence as significant, pervasive, and a long-term problem affecting health, safety, and well-being and to learn interventions appropriate for victims and perpetrators. Data from four semesters indicated a significant increase in knowledge about domestic violence and resources, decreased anxiety, increased confidence, and improvement in communication and assessment skills.

Palliative care: the experience of informal carers within the Bangladeshi community.

Optimal palliative care cannot be realized unless nurses have a full understanding of what the patient's family is experiencing. There is a gap in nursing knowledge related to informal care and ethnic minorities. The aim of this retrospective qualitative exploratory study was to investigate the experiences of Bangladeshi informal carers living in the UK, associated with caring for a dying relative. Semi-structured interviews using an interpreter were carried out and patient notes were examined. Four categories emerged from the data: caring, support, communication, and home and family. In addition to the demands and stresses caused by their relative's symptoms and the knowledge that they were dying, the Bangladeshi carers experienced communication barriers, isolation and anxieties regarding visas and housing--yet all were uncomplaining about their situation. Palliative care nurses working with Bangladeshi families need to be aware of the additional stresses that these families may experience and be able to offer strategies to enable them to cope with them.