School and Home Environments as Contributing Factors in the Development of Communication Apprehension in Children

A study examined school and home variables as contributing factors in the development of communication apprehension in children. Subjects, 89 undergraduate students in 2 sections of a semester-long course in organizational communication and two sections of an introductory level course in interpersonal communication at a midwestern university, volunteered to take home instrument packets over their Thanksgiving vacation to be completed by parents and up to four siblings. Results indicated that positive reinforcement and encouragement by parents in the home and fathers ' level of communication apprehension were the two most significant predictors of children's level of communication apprehension. Findings suggest that grade school, high school, and college environments were not significant predictors of a child's level of communication apprehension. (One table of data is included. Contains 32 references.) (RS) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document