Need for Social Approval and Resilience-Related Protective Factors in Adults Who Stutter: A Comparative and Correlational Study

Stuttering is associated with psychosocial challenges that may increase vulnerability to social evaluation. This study examined whether adults who stutter (AWS) differ from adults who do not stutter (AWNS) in their need for social approval and investigated the relationship between social approval and resilience-related protective factors in AWS. The final analytic sample comprised 126 adults aged 18–49 years (69 AWS and 57 AWNS). No statistically significant differences were detected in sex or age-category distributions; these tests were used to describe demographic comparability and were not interpreted as evidence of statistical equivalence. Participants completed the Need for Social Approval Scale and the Protective Factors for Psychological Resilience Scale. AWS had a significantly higher total need for social approval than AWNS (76.90 ± 18.93 vs. 67.75 ± 16.10), t(124) = 2.885, p = 0.005, Hedges’ g = 0.513, bootstrap 95% CI [0.17, 0.91]. Within AWS, total need for social approval was moderately and inversely associated with total resilience-related protective factors (Spearman ρ = −0.429, p < 0.001, bootstrap 95% CI [−0.620, −0.192]; Holm-adjusted p = 0.003). In an age- and sex-adjusted sensitivity analysis using all eligible participants aged 18–49 years (69 AWS and 82 AWNS), AWS status remained associated with higher total social approval scores (B = 8.50, 95% CI [1.99, 15.02], p = 0.011). These findings describe associations between approval-oriented social concerns and perceived protective resources; the cross-sectional design does not establish causal mechanisms or intervention targets.