Print version ISSN 1516-1846
VON FRITSCH, Angela; OLIVEIRA, Gisele and BEHLAU, Mara. Parents opinion on the voice and on behavior and personality characteristics of their children. Rev. CEFAC [online]. 2011, vol.13, n.1, pp. 112-122. Epub Aug 13, 2010. ISSN 1516-1846. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1516-18462010005000083.
PURPOSE: to check how parents perceive and describe their children with 'regard to their voice and behavior and personality traits. METHODS: the study involved the participation of 66 parents of children between 6 and 9 year old, from both genders, who answered a questionnaire with 28 questions addressing voice, behavior and personality traits of their children. RESULTS: results indicated that the majority of the parents (90.9%) perceived themselves satisfied with the sound of their child's voice. Only 9.1% of the parents characterized the voice of their child as being worse than other children and 31.8% felt that their child speaks more compared to his/her friends. Approximately a quarter (22.7%) of the parents observed that the voice volume used by their children is higher. The parents that characterized their children as being more talkative also perceived their voices as having a higher pitch (p=0.013). The increased voice volume showed a positive correlation with agitation (0.044), restlessness (0.005), sociability (0.021), less hours of sleep (0.013) and extroversion (0.014). Children characterized as being calmer (p=0.011) and less argumentative (p=0.044) were also seen as less talkative compared to other children. CONCLUSION: in general, the parents seem to notice vocal traits in their children, they have a strong trend to consider their children as sensitive, observant and demanding in relation to themselves, in addition to noting a relationship among voice volume and behavior and personality traits.
Keywords : Dysphonia; Voice; Parents; Children.