Partner effects in adolescent conversations

Twenty-four adolescents participated in social conversations with a same-sex peer, an opposite-sex peer, or a speech-language pathologist (SLP) or graduate student. The conversations were compared in regard to specific verbal and nonverbal behaviors, with the goal of identifying conversational behaviors that may be assessed with validity in a clinical setting. Significant differences were found in speaker and listener linguistic behaviors between conversations with peers and those with clinicians. A trend towards the increase in speaker nonverbal behaviors was also noted with clinician partners. Conversations with opposite-sex peers tended to be characterized by fewer direct questions, reduced listener eye contact, and increased listener nonverbal behaviors than those with same-sex peers. Several behaviors occurred rarely in any group, including physical contact between partners and requests for clarification; others occurred with high frequency in all groups, including eye contact and emotional expression. The implications of these patterns for persons with communication disorders are considered. EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES: (1) To describe communication behaviors that may be measured in adolescent conversations. (2) To identify those communication behaviors that may be influenced by factors related to the conversation partner.