Self reported individual differences in inner speech (internal monologue and dialogue) in adolescents with Social (Pragmatic) Communication Disorder (SCD)

The aim of the study was to assess self-reported individual differences in the use of the inner speech of adolescents with Social (Pragmatic) Communication Disorder (SCD) and in particular to answer the questions: Do adolescent with SCD have inner speech and what is the direction of this speech? Is this a monologue and internal dialogue, i.e., do they speak to themselves (internal monologue) or to other people (internal dialogue)? We tested 22 adolescents with SCD, diagnosed according to the DSM-5 criterion. The average age was 16.48 years, SD = 2.71. The youngest patient was 12 years old and the oldest was 19 years old. The modified version of the Puchalska-Wasyl Scale of Inner Speech was used for the study. The questionnaire was tailored to the capabilities of the persons with SCD and included questions about the occurrence of internal speech and the direction of this speech, that is, internal conversations to yourself (internal monologue) or to other people (internal dialogue). The patients participating in the experiment were informed in detail about the whole procedure and they or their parents, if they were under age, provided written consent for their participation in the experiment (according to the guidelines of the Helsinki Declaration, 2008). Statistical analysis showed that in adolescents with SCD there is a statistically significant relationship in the frequency of the monologue and internal dialogue. Persons who declared a more frequent occurrence of internal dialogue also declared more frequent occurrences of internal monologue, which means that they had the general ability for inner speech. A comparison of the direction of inner speech, that is the internal monologue and internal dialogue has shown that during inner speech they more often use internal dialogue than internal monologue. It was found that in adolescents with SCD, inner speech is present, and it manifests itself in the form of an internal monologue and internal dialogue. However, far more often do they use internal dialogue than internal monologue.