The impact of stuttering on adults who stutter and their partners (original) (raw)
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The impact of stuttering on the quality of life in adults who stutter
Journal of Fluency Disorders, 2009
Stuttering is an involuntary fluency disorder that is not uncommon in society. However, the impact of stuttering on a composite measure such as quality of life has rarely been estimated. Quality of life (QOL) assesses the well-being of a person from a multidimensional perspective, and valid and reliable general QOL measures are available that can be used to estimate the impact of stuttering on QOL. This study involved the use of a general measure of QOL called the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 (SF-36) in order to assess the impact of stuttering in 200 adults who stutter (AWS). Comparisons to 200 adults of similar age and sex ratio who do not stutter were made so that the unique contribution of stuttering on QOL could be estimated. Findings indicated that stuttering does negatively impact QOL in the vitality, social functioning, emotional functioning and mental health status domains. Results also tentatively suggest that people who stutter with increased levels of severity may have a higher risk of poor emotional functioning. These findings have implications for treatment such as the necessity to address the emotional and psychological aspects of QOL in AWS and the need for additional clinical resources to be invested in stuttering treatment.
Impact of Stuttering on Communication Attitude Among Adults Who Stutter and their Life Partner
2019
This study investigates the extent to which the fluent life partners (LPs) of persons who stutter (PWS) understand the effect stuttering has on their partner who stutters' communication attitude. This was accomplished by administering the Communication Attitude Test for Adults Who Stutter (BigCAT; Vanryckeghem & Brutten, 2018), a subtest of the Behavior Assessment Battery (BAB; Vanryckeghem & Brutten, 2018). The BigCAT was administered to 33 PWS and a modified version was administered to their LPs via Qualtrics, an online survey software system. Between-group total score comparison revealed no significant difference in total scores, and a low-medium score correlation was evidenced. Within both groups, participants age and gender did not have a significant effect on total scores. The perception of stuttering severity was found to significantly influence BigCAT scores within each group. No differential effect of duration of relationship on score agreement was found to exist. A high Cronbach Alpha coefficient was obtained for both test forms. Between-group item score comparison revealed that only answers on two out of the 34 items differed significantly. They were related to frequency of speech disruption and avoidance of persons, places or situations. Item 24 had a perfect correlation between the two groups and relates to common behaviors PWS exhibit in trying to attain more fluency. Overall, the findings of this study show that LPs of PWS have a general understanding of the impact stuttering has on their partner who stutters' communication attitude. iv To people who stutter, their loved ones, friends and advocates v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Let it be known-I am a person who stutters. Stuttering is very personal to me. This thesis is a testament to my self-actualization. It has allowed me to grow, given me a voice, and further ignited my curiosity to learn more about the disorder. Most importantly, it allotted me the opportunity to add to the body of knowledge which intends to help us further understand and treat stuttering. This has given me a sense of meaning and purpose. To my thesis advisor, Dr. Martine Vanryckeghem-words cannot express my gratitude for the time you have sacrificed to guide me through this process. Every draft edited, suggestions made and inferences drawn have come with a series of invaluable lessons. Your high expectations, keenness to detail, commitment to the research process and the example you set daily have made me strive to be the best I can be. We share a fascination of all things stuttering. Our discussions I enjoy most. To Dr. Jacqueline Towson and Mrs. Melissa Hamilton-thank you for serving on my thesis committee, for your unwavering support and advice. To Athanasia Svenning-thank you for allowing me to join you in the overarching investigation this thesis relates to, and which you so brilliantly thought up and initiated. Your friendship and willingness to help every step of the way has been relentless. To Dr. Charlotte Harvey-the first person to truly convince me that I am capable of great things. Thank you for your constant mentorship, friendship and for caring of my well-being. Finally, to Jason and Frank Panzarino-my family and my biggest supporters. With love, always. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES…………………………………………………………………………. vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS……………………………………………………………… viii
Effects of Stuttering on Quality of Life in Adults Who Stutter
Middle East Journal of Rehabilitation and Health, 2015
Background: Stuttering is potentially a socio communicational problem, which has negative effects on individuals' mental and emotional health and other aspects of life. Recognizing the quality of life (QOL) dimensions in adults who stutter can be useful in treatment planning and preventing later mental, emotional and social disorders. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the QOL and its relationship with stuttering severity in adults who stutter. Patients and Methods: This analytic-descriptive study was performed on 78 adults (61 males and 17 females) who stuttered and 78 normal control cases in Mashhad City, Iran. Short-form 36 (SF-36) questionnaire of QOL was used to collect data and the percentage of syllables stuttered (%SS) was determined in a spontaneous speech sample as a frequency measurement tool. Mann-Whitney test was used to compare data between the groups and ANOVA test was also used to evaluate the correlation between stuttering severity and QOL dimensions. Results: This study showed a significant difference between the groups in mean scores of QOL, general and emotional health, social and physical functions, vitality and role limitations made by physical and emotional problems (P < 0.05). No significant difference was found in pain between the groups and there was no significant relation between %SS and dimensions of QOL (P > 0.05). Conclusions: Stuttering has negative effects on different dimensions of QOL among individuals. Thus, it is necessary to pay special attention to its prevention and treatment before it is developed into a completed and progressive condition.
Lived experience of people who stutter: a descriptive review of qualitative studies from 1990–2017
Disability & Society, 2020
Since the 1970s, research has illuminated the personal and social dimensions of the experience of stuttering in the discipline of speech-language pathology. However, the disabling experiences of individuals who stutter remain underrepresented within the body of scholarship. We searched for articles published in English, between 1990/01/01 and 2017/ 12/31, in the Pubmed, Web of Science, Scopus, PsychInfo and PsychArticles databases. After screening, 31 full text articles met the criteria for inclusion. Five themes emerged: implementation context, theories and methods, population, definitions of stuttering and areas of research. This descriptive review lays the groundwork for future disability research in the context of the lived experience of people who stutter.
Journal of Fluency Disorders, 2004
The purpose of the study was to investigate the life experiences of a group of South African adults who stutter and the impact of stuttering on their quality of life. Participants were 16 adults with a mean age of 28.9 and ranging from 20 to 59 years. Methods involved individual interviews designed to explore the life domains of education; social life; employment; speech therapy; family and marital life; and identity, beliefs and emotional issues. Main findings of the study indicated that the majority of participants perceived their stuttering to have impacted on their academic performance at school, and relationships with teachers and classmates. Although their stuttering was not perceived to adversely influence their ability to establish friendships, people generally reacted negatively to their stuttering. Many felt that their stuttering did not have an adverse effect on their choice of occupation, ability to obtain work, and relationships with managers and co-workers, although it was perceived to influence their work performance and hamper their chances for promotion. Although the majority viewed their speech therapy experiences as being negative; more than half the sample believed that speech therapy had, nevertheless exerted a positive effect on their quality of life. Overall, stuttering did not appear to have influenced participants' family and marital life. Most participants felt that stuttering had affected their self-esteem and self-image, and had evoked strong emotions within them. Findings are taken to suggest the need to incorporate subjective feelings about stuttering into the clinical practice of speech-language therapy; to provide information and coping strategies for teachers and employers; and for further research.
Journal of Fluency Disorders
This study aims to examine the association between adults' experience of stuttering and their age, gender and marital status, as well as to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Hebrew version of the OASES-A. Methods: The Hebrew version of the OASES-A was administered to 91 adults-who-stutter. The validity of the translated version was evaluated using a subset of 43 participants, who also completed three additional instruments: (a) a Perceived Stuttering Severity (PSS) self-rating scale, (b) the Situation Avoidance Behavior Checklist (SABC), (c) the Students Life Satisfaction scale (SLSS). Finally, the correlations between the participants' OASES-A scores and their age, gender and marital status were calculated. Results: A negative correlation was found between the participants' OASES-A impact scores and their age (p < 0.01). In addition, married participants exhibited lower OASES-A impact scores compared with unmarried participants (p < 0.05). On the other hand, the speakers' gender was not associated with OASES-A impact scores. Results: revealed high internal consistency of the Hebrew OASES-A, and moderate to strong correlations with the additional examined instruments. Finally, results of the Hebrew version of the questionnaire were comparable with those obtained in other languages. Conclusion: Our results indicated that, within our cohort, age and marital status are significantly associated with the personal experience of stuttering, whereas gender is not. In addition, the Hebrew version of the OASES-A is valid and comparable with equivalent versions in other languages. This facilitates the application of the OASES-A in future clinical and research settings. 1. Introduction Stuttering is considered a multidimensional disorder, with depth and magnitude far beyond the overt speech symptoms. This perspective was illustrated decades ago by Sheehan's iceberg analogy (1958), and it is still accepted theoretically and clinically (e.g., Yairi & Seery, 2014). Hence, it is agreed that measurements of overt stuttering do not necessarily represent the impact of the overall stuttering disorder on individual people who stutter (PWS) (Yairi & Seery, 2011). For example, some PWS exhibit mild overt stuttering, yet perceive it as a profound and disturbing experience. This may be manifested in fear of specific words, general behaviors of social/communicational avoidance, feelings of loss-of-control, anxiety, and excessive effort associated with speech and communication (Ingham & Cordes, 1997; Riley, Riley, & Maguire, 2004; Yairi & Seery, 2011). In contrast, other PWS may exhibit more severe overt stuttering, but perceive it as a mild condition. This may be attributed, for example, to mild emotional responses or to the lack of significant social difficulties (Yairi & Seery, 2011). This demonstrates that the experiential nature of stuttering (e.g.,
CoDAS, 2014
Purpose:To investigate the opinion about stuttering treatments in people who stutter, based on their answers to two open questions.Methods:The participants were 40 adults of both genders, with self-reported stuttering. During the first phase of the research, we contacted two Brazilian nongovernmental organizations: the Brazilian Stuttering Association (ABRAGAGUEIRA) and the Brazilian Fluency Institute (IBF). These associations agreed to participate and were responsible for sending the research questions to their members via electronic mail. The first contact with the participants elucidated the purpose and method of our research and, after obtaining informed consent from participants, the two questions were sent. The research questions involved their opinion about cure, treatments to which the participants had been submitted, and their outcome.Results:After analysis, the answers obtained indicated that people who stutter believe in a cure for stuttering; that the ideal therapy would...
Stuttering related and psychosocial predictors of impact of stuttering
Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association
Objective: To investigate the psychosocial factors having an impact on persons with a stuttering problem. Methods: The correlation study was conducted from October 2016 to February 2018 at hospitals, speech clinics and educational institutes of Lahore. The sample was comprised of young adults aged 16-30 years of either gender with development stuttering problem. Data was collected using Stuttering Severity Instrument-4, Social Interaction Anxiety Scale-Urdu, Big Five Measure-20, Overall Assessment of the Speaker’s Experience of Stuttering and the Urdu version of the shortened form of the Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced inventory. Data was analysed using SPSS 23. Results: Of the 78 subjects, 66(84.6 %) were males and 12 (15.4 %) were females. There were 21(27%) subjects aged 16-19 years and 57(73%) with age range of 20 - 30 years. The overall mean age was 21.96 ± 3.89 years. Mean age of onset was 4.59 ± 1.29 years, while gradual onset and progressive stuttering was report...
Awareness about stuttering and self-therapy of stutter in the adult stutters
Biomedical Research-tokyo, 2017
Objective: To investigate: The level of understanding regarding the problem of stuttering Awareness of Self Therapy among adult stutters. Study design: Cross Sectional study design was used for this study. Setting: Research was conducted in tertiary care units of public and private sectors Hospitals in Lahore Pakistan (Combined Military Hospital, Mayo Hospital and Fatima Memorial Hospital). Duration of study: Study is completed within the time frame of six months from September 2014 to February 2015. Methodology: Between the eras of October 2014 to March 2015, Adult clients of stuttering were taken, who were above the age of 15 years. Inclusion criteria included all the males and females above the age of 15 who were stuttering. It includes students, males and females, having blockage, repetition, prolongation or any other primary or secondary symptom of stuttering. All the stutters with congenital or chronic diseases were excluded. All patients were interviewed briefly prior conside...
Journal of General Internal Medicine, 2015
BACKGROUND: For adults who stutter, communication difficulties can impact many spheres of life. Previous studies have not examined how stuttering might impact patient's experiences with the medical system. OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to understand the range and depth of experiences with the medical system among adults who stutter. DESIGN: This was a qualitative study using age-stratified focus groups. PARTICIPANTS: Sixteen adults who stutter were recruited at a national conference about stuttering. APPROACH: We conducted three focus groups. Participants also completed a written questionnaire about sociodemographic characteristics, health status, and the impact of stuttering on their life [using the St. Louis Inventory of Life Perspectives Scale (SL-ILP-S) Total Effect Score]. We analyzed data using an iterative, thematic analysis, with an inductive approach, at a semantic level. KEY RESULTS: Participants were mostly (75 %) male and resided throughout the United States. The mean SL-ILP-S Total Effect Score was 27.3, indicating that stuttering caused minimal concern in participants' lives. Despite this, we identified five themes that characterize ways in which stuttering affects interactions with the medical system. Participants described (1) discomfort speaking with office staff and physicians, which resulted in (2) avoiding health care interactions because of stuttering, and (3) relying on a third party to navigate the medical system. During visits with physicians, participants felt that (4) discussing stuttering with physicians required trust and rapport, and (5) speaking assertively with physicians required selfacceptance of their stuttering. CONCLUSIONS: We identified ways in which stuttering affects medical interactions. These results highlight the need for increased awareness and training for medical staff and physicians when caring for persons who stutter. Future studies among diverse samples of stutterers can determine the effects of stuttering on medical interactions, and inform the development of interventions to provide high quality health care for adults who stutter.