Anxiety and cognitive bias in children and young people who stutter

Psychologists recognise various forms of anxiety, such as generalized anxiety disorder, separation anxiety and social phobia. People who stutter are at risk of elevated levels of anxiety, especially social phobia. Recent research has suggested that anxiety may be caused and maintained by cognitive biases such as preferentially allocating attention towards threat stimuli. These biases can be re-trained using cognitive bias modification with resulting improvements in levels of anxiety. In the present study, we measured different forms of anxiety and attentional bias for faces among 8-18 year olds attending the Michael Palin Centre for treatment for stuttering. The clients and their parent(s) completed the child and parent versions, respectively, of the Screen for Childhood Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED), which provides an overall anxiety score and sub-scores, with clinical cut-offs, for generalized anxiety disorder, separation anxiety, social phobia, school avoidance and panic. The clients also performed a computerised measure of attentional bias for faces, using schematic stimuli. Levels of anxiety were higher than in the general population, and prevalence increased with age. There was a significant correlation between SCARED scores produced by clients and their parents. Socially anxious participants showed a bias towards sad faces

A healthy planet for a healthy mind

The evidence base connecting planetary and human health is growing, but thus far the research community has primarily focused on the physical health implications. This Voices asks: how does environmental degradation affect mental health, and what are the emerging needs and research priorities

Understanding stammering or stuttering : a guide for parents, teachers and other professionals

127 hlm.: 25 c

Temperament and anxiety in school-age children who stutter.

Introduction: Rothbart (2011) defined temperament as constitutional-based individual differences in reactivity and self-regulation. Numerous temperament studies (Jones, Eggers, Zengin-Bolatkale, in review) indicated differences between children who stutter (CWS) and children who do not stutter. Eggers (2012) hypothesized about different mechanisms in which temperament could contribute to the onset and/or exacerbation of stuttering, one of which being a possible role in affective reactions, such as anxiety. Lonigan et al. (2004) studied the relationship between fear and temperament and found evidence for an integrated model in which the interaction between negative reactivity and self-regulation determines negative emotions and anxiety. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate possible associations between temperament and the anxiety level in CWS. Methods: Participants were 113 English-speaking children aged between 9;0 and 14;10 years old, referred to a specialist centre for children who stutter. Stuttering severity was assessed using the Stuttering Severity Instrument (SSI-4; Riley, 2009). Temperament was assessed with the Early Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire-Revised (EATQ-R; Ellis & Rothbart, 2001), a child- and mother-report measure for 9- to 15-year-olds, based on Rothbart’s temperament model. Both versions consist of several temperament scales clustering under three or four factors, i.e. Surgency, Negative Affect, Effortful Control, and Affiliativeness (child-version only). The RCADS is a questionnaire consisting of six scales: a) separation anxiety disorder, b) social phobia, c) obsessive-compulsive disorder, d) panic disorder, e) generalized anxiety disorder and f) major depressive disorder (Chorpita et al., 2000). The six scales correspond to the dimensions of fear from DSM-IV (Wolpert, Cheng & Deighton, 2015) and the higher the score, the greater the anxiety/depressed feelings. Results: All data have been collected and are currently being analysed. Analyses on a preliminary dataset of 63 children (48 boys and 15 girls) with a stuttering severity ranging from mild to very severe, showed that a) higher scores on Surgency and Effortful Control correlate with lower total anxiety scores (both in mother- and child versions), b) higher scores on Negative Affectivity correlate with higher total anxiety scores (both in mother- and child versions), c) the subscales Fear, Depressive Mood and Frustration correlated positively and Inhibitory Control negatively with the child’s total anxiety score (both in mother- and child versions), and d) none of the temperament scales or factors rated by the mother correlate with any of the child-rated anxiety scales. Discussion: More extravert and less shy children, as well as children able to inhibit their responses and focus/shift their attention easily, experience lower anxiety levels. Children with higher levels of irritability and frustration experience higher anxiety levels. Moreover, this study supports the inclusion of child-reported temperament questionnaires since these are more sensitive to these associations. Results of the analysis of the full dataset will be reported

Temperament and the impact of stuttering in children and young adolescents.

Several studies (e.g., Eggers, 2012) have provided support for the hypothesis that children who stutter, as a group, differ on temperament components from nonstuttering children. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate if there is a correlation between the child’s temperament, as measured by child and parent questionnaires, and the functional impact of stuttering

The European fluency specialists registration system.

The European Clinical Specialization Fluency (ECSF) consortium has been running courses for qualified SLTs since 2008 with an annual intake of around 20 students. This European group has now developed an additional stepwise procedure to become a European Fluency Specialist. This is open to ECSF graduates as well as eligible clinicians and academics with special interest in fluency disorders. The process involves documentation re. clinical and/or academic activities, continued professional development activities, and informal discussion groups. Once approved, the certification process is complete and the person can use the title of European Fluency Specialist

Temperament and the impact of stuttering in children aged 8–14 years

Purpose: The goal of this study was to evaluate possible associations between child-and mother-reported temperament, stuttering severity, and child-reported impact of stuttering in school-age children who stutter. Method: Participants were 123 children who stutter (94 boys and 29 girls) who were between 9;0 and 14;10 (years;months) and their mothers. Temperament was assessed with the revised child and parent version of the Early Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire-Revised (Ellis & Rothbart, 2001). The Overall Assessment of the Speaker's Experience of Stuttering (Yaruss & Quesal, 2006) was used to evaluate the stuttering impact. Results: Child-and mother-reported Early Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire-Revised temperament factors correlated moderately. No statistically significant associations were found between temperament and stuttering severity. The temperament factors of Surgency (both child-and mother reported) and Negative Affect (only child-reported) correlated moderately with the Overall Impact and several subsections (i.e., Speaker's Reactions, Daily Communication, and/or Quality of Life) of the Overall Assessment of the Speaker's Experience of Stuttering. Conclusions: More extraverted and less fearful/shy children experience a lower overall impact of their stuttering. Children with higher levels of irritability and frustration experience a higher overall impact of their stuttering. Since children's ratings of temperament were more sensitive to these associations than mothers, this study supports the inclusion of child-reported temperament questionnaires in future research

The impact of stuttering in the school years : predictive variables

The current study reports on the role that temperament, stuttering severity, anxiety, and sex play in the overall impact of stuttering. Participants were 277 English-speaking children between 9;0 and 14;11 years old. The different variables were measured using the Early Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire (Ellis & Rothbart, 2001), the Revised Children’s Anxiety and Depression Scale (Chorpita et al., 2000), the Stuttering Severity Instrument Fourth Edition (Riley & Bakker, 2009), and the Overall Assessment of the Speaker’s Experience of Stuttering (Yaruss & Quesal, 2010). Clinical implications related to both the assessment and therapy for children who stutter will be discussed

Temperament, anxiety, and depression in school-age children who stutter

Purpose: The main aim of this study was to gain insight into whether temperament and/or stuttering severity were associated with anxiety and depression in children who stutter. Additionally, the study also provided an indication into the prevalence of anxiety and depression in children who stutter in a clinical cohort. Method: The participants were 132 English-speaking children (105 boys and 27 girls) between 9;0 and 14;11 years old (M = 11;8, SD = 1;10) and their mothers. At their first visit to a specialist center for children who stutter, mothers and children completed the relevant versions of the Early Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire-Revised (EATQ-R; Ellis & Rothbart, 2001) and a screening of children's anxiety and depression, using the Revised Children's Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS; Chorpita et al., 2000). Stuttering was evaluated using the Stuttering Severity Instrument Fourth Edition (SSI-4). Correlations were conducted between child and parent versions of the EATQ-R and RCADS; EATQ-R and RCADS; as well as the SSI-4 and RCADS. A comparison was made between those children who scored below the clinical threshold for anxiety and depression, and those who scored above. Results: Significant correlations were found for all mother and child EATQ-R factors and RCADS scales (except for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). Correlations were also found between the child-and mother-reported temperament factors of positive reactivity, negative reactivity, and self-regulation and anxiety and depression. Children who scored above the clinical threshold for any category of anxiety or depression had significantly lower positive reactivity and higher negative reactivity scores, compared to those who scored below the threshold. There were no differences between the two groups with regard to SSI-4 scores. Conclusions: This is the first study to evaluate associations between temperament and anxiety and depression in children who stutter. Higher negative reactivity scores and lower positive reactivity and self-regulation scores are associated with elevated levels of anxiety and depression in children who stutter. Further, those who score above the clinical threshold have significantly higher levels of negative reactivity and lower levels of positive reactivity compared to those scoring below the threshold. Findings suggest that levels of anxiety that reach clinical threshold are more prevalent in children who stutter than would be expected based on population data. Current findings have implications for both the assessment and therapy of children who stutter presenting at clinics for support