Social skills in dysphonic children.

PURPOSE: To obtain and analyze data from the social skills evaluation of dysphonic children.

METHODS: This is a cross-sectional and prospective study. Participants were 38 children enrolled in a public school, ranging in age from 7 to 11 years. They were separated into two groups: Study Group (SG)--19 dysphonic children; Control Group (CG)--19 non-dysphonic children. The groups were matched by gender and age range. Children with any history of organic vocal problems, according to the identification and investigation of general and vocal health questionnaire, which was answered by the legal guardian, were excluded. The Multimedia Social Skills Inventoire for Children (MUSSIC) was applied, which consists of 21 social interaction situations represented by photos, having a child as the leading figure. For each situation, the participant should select one out of three behaviors, putting themselves in the place of the main character. Each response corresponds to one out of three types of reaction: assertive, passive and aggressive. Data were statistically analyzed.

RESULTS: There was no difference between the groups on the social skills evaluation results, that is, SG and CG children presented similar scores regarding assertiveness, aggressiveness and passiveness. Consequently, there was no difference on the subscales of the inventory regarding social skills. As for the SG, there was no relationship between the scores obtained on the MUSSIC and the severity of the voice disorder.

CONCLUSION: It is not possible to determine specific behaviors of dysphonic children concerning social skills.