Announcing 'Stammering Research' - Stammering Research - UCL

Stammering Research. Vol. 1.
including models using planned reason and severity of stuttering. Some studies have examined the
impact of stuttering severity (Collins & Blood, 1990) using the acknowledgment tactic and found it to
be an important variable in perceptual studies. We were intrigued by the authors’ suggestions to study
the social and affective factors/impact in different social situations. For instance, we reported (Blood et
al., 2001) that adolescents who stutter had significantly poorer perceptions about their own
communication competence, especially in group discussions, interpersonal conversations, and with
strangers when compared with students who did not stutter. How would the authors suggest
researchers address studying these multiple factors in different social situations? We also feel that a
strong need exists to replicate current data and determine the extent these perceptual studies parallel
real life situations.
A recent study which supports the temperament review (although using a different model) is now
available (Guitar, 2004). His article on acoustic startle responses and temperament in 14 adults who
stutter and 14 who did not stutter concluded that individuals who stutter may “as a group, have a more
reactive temperament than nonstutterers” (p. 238). Do the authors support the use of mixed designs
using both psychological and physiological data collection and analyses? And do these designs have
more strength to showcase the role of social factors?
In the area of school and adolescence, the authors suggested diary methods to collect data. We
found this a difficult method to use with school-age students, even when they were provided with
electronic beepers to remind them to rate their perceived “bullying” and record their perceptions.
Compliance not withstanding, this is an important research tool that could shed new light on
perceptions of perceived or actual aggressiveness in the school yard, recreational activities or board
room. Recently we published a study on perceived communicative competence, self- esteem and
vulnerability to bullying of 53 adolescents who stutter and 53 control participants (Blood & Blood,
2004). Adolescents who stutter (43%) were at a significantly higher risk of experiencing bullying than
were adolescents who did not stutter (11%). The majority of adolescents who stutter (57%) rated their
communicative competence as poor. However, 72% of the adolescents who stutter scored within one
standard deviation from the mean on the self-esteem measure. Students with both low self-esteem and
perceived poor communicative competence were more likely to be victimized by bullies. The links
among social factors including perceived stigma, self-esteem, perceived communicative competence,
social anxiety, bullying, temperament, etc. need to be researched more fully. We support the authors
final suggestions about the need for control groups, larger, more representative samples, more carefully
designed studies and the use of more appropriate methodologies for data analyses.
The social factors surrounding adulthood issues focus primarily on employment, presumably due to
page constraints. We have completed some work in this area. The caution about sensitivity to
discrimination by employers and potential evaluators is especially pertinent in this line of inquiry. Do
the authors have models that examine this more covertly from their body of social psychology literature
that could be shared with readers? We would also be interested in the authors’ ideas about examining
other social factors in adults in areas such as relationships (social, dating, marriage), perceived life
stressors, life satisfaction, etc. The research is extremely limited. Although researchers have invested
heavily in the prevention, early detection and treatment of stuttering, for millions of individuals it still
becomes a chronic life-long problem requiring necessary skills for coping and adapting. We think that
other models in social psychology examining epilepsy, asthma, diabetes, obesity which may have
similar trajectories from childhood could provide potent models for adaptation.
We agreed with the authors that increasing in a systematic and rigorous manner the impact and
relationship of social and affective factors in stuttering across the life span is extremely important. The
articles shed important light on some of the potential challenges and methodological issues, but also the
critical need for more interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research teams.
References
Blood, G. W., & Blood, I. M. (2004). Bullying in adolescents who stutter: Communicative competence and selfesteem.
Contemporary Issues in Communication Science and Disorders, 31, 69-79.
Blood, G. W., Blood, I. M., Tellis, G., & Gabel, R. (2001). Communication apprehension and self-perceived
communication competence in adolescents who stutter. Journal of Fluency Disorders, 26, 161-178.
Collins, C., & Blood, G. W. (1990). Acknowledgment and severity of stuttering as factors influencing
nonstutterers perceptions of stutterers. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, 55, 75-81.
Furnham, A., & Davis, S. (2004). Involvement of social factors in stuttering: A review and assessment of
currently methodology. Stammering Research, 1, 112-122.
Guitar, B. (1998). Stuttering: An integrated approach to its nature and treatment. Baltimore, MD: Williams &
Wilkins.
Guitar, B. (2003). Acoustic startle responses and temperament in individuals who stutter. Journal of Speech,
Language, and Hearing Research, 46, 233-240.
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