Predicting the impact of stuttering in the school years

Purpose The goal of the current study was to identify factors contributing to the overall impact of stuttering, as measured by the Overall Assessment of the Speaker’s Experience of Stuttering (OASES) in older children who stutter. Prior research suggests temperament and emotional functioning may influence stuttering impact, whereas findings regarding overt stuttering severity have been inconsistent. Method Participants were 306 children who stutter (241 boys, 65 girls), aged 9;0–14;11 years old, referred to a specialist center for stuttering. Measures included the Early Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire-Revised (EATQ-R), Stuttering Severity Instrument-4 (SSI-4), Revised Children’s Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS), and Overall Assessment of the Speaker’s Experience of Stuttering (OASES). A multiple linear regression was conducted with OASES total score as the outcome and predictors including: SSI-4 total score, temperament dimensions (Surgency, Negative Affect, and Effortful Control), RCADS total score, age, and sex. Results Higher Surgency predicted lower stuttering impact, whereas higher Negative Affect, greater anxiety and depression symptoms, older age, and higher overt stuttering severity predicted greater impact. Effortful Control and sex were not significant predictors. Temperament and internalizing symptoms contributed independently to stuttering impact, beyond overt severity. Predictors operated largely independently within the multivariate model, with no evidence of strong interaction effects. Conclusion These findings add to the understanding of the factors that contribute to the impact that stuttering has on 9–14 year olds. The results indicate that the impact that stuttering has on a child can be predicted to some degree by their temperament, level of anxiety and depression, age and overt stuttering, but not sex. Future research is needed to identify/include other factors that may strengthen this predictive model, better understand how and why some children are more negatively impacted than others, and to inform clinical practice.