Temperament and Teens

Temperament and the Impact of Stuttering in Children Aged 8-14 Years

By Kurt Eggers, Elaine Kelman, and Sharon Millard

Stuttering can be associated with increased anxiety, reduced confidence communicating and negative self-perceptions. However, how stuttering develops and the impact that it has on an individual varies hugely, with some people experiencing significant consequences, while others barely affected on a day-to-day basis. The factors that contribute to stuttering impact are likely to be multiple and complex in their interaction, but by identifying what these factors might be, we hope to be able to identify those children who are in most need of support. Further, if we understand these influencing factors we can modify our current therapies, or develop new therapies, so they more closely meet the needs of the individual.

A person’s temperament is one factor that may influence their experience, reactions and management of stuttering. Temperament explains our tendencies to react to stimuli in particular ways and the ability to regulate these reactions. Temperament is defined as “constitutionally based individual difference in reactivity and self-regulation.” It is genetically determined and relatively stable over the lifespan, influencing how we experience and interact with our environment (Rothbart et al., 2000; Rothbart & Bates, 1998). Reactivity refers to the arousability of physiological and sensory response systems, while self-regulation is made up of the processes that can facilitate or inhibit reactivity. One might expect that experiencing emotions more intensely and more frequently would yield higher scores on assessments measuring emotional reactions to stuttering and quality of life, while children’s attentional self-regulation predicts more active coping strategies such as direct problem solving, seeking understanding and positive cognitive restructuring.

Studies so far have largely focused on exploring the relationship between stuttering severity and temperament and have been either solely focused on, or have included, preschool children. However, we know that for many preschool children the experience of stuttering will be transient, and the negative impact on children’s attitude to communication increases with age. Understanding the relationship between temperament and stuttering in school-aged children who have persisted with stuttering has yet to be fully explored.

This study, which has just been accepted for publication in the Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research, sought to understand the relationship between temperament and the impact of stuttering in school aged children who stutter. The study was carried out at the Michael Palin Centre for Stammering in London in collaboration with Dr Kurt Eggers. Data from 123 children were included. Each child completed a temperament questionnaire (The EATQ-R) and the Overall Assessment of the Speaker’s Experience of Stuttering (OASES-S/T). A measure of stuttering severity was also carried out.

In contrast with some other studies, the results did not show a relationship between stuttering severity and temperament. However, the impact of stuttering was significantly greater for children with higher levels of irritability and frustration, and for those who are more shy/fearful. This is probably not surprising given that irritability and frustration are emotions often reported in relation to stuttering, and the behaviors that children adopt to avoid speaking are consistent with being shy/fearful. It is important to note that these results do not show the direction of the relationship, i.e., whether increased shyness leads to greater impact of stuttering or vice versa, so more research is needed. But these findings do suggest that children with particular temperaments could be considered at greater risk for higher levels of negative stuttering impact. There are a number of resources at www.stutteringhelp.org which provide ideas for supporting children’s emotional development and well-being and for considering temperament within therapy.

Kurt Eggers, Ph.D., Thomas More University College, University of Turku

Elaine Kelman, MSc, Cert, MRCSLT, of the Michael Palin Centre for Stammering in London

Sharon Millard PhD, MRCSLT, Reg HCPC, Research Lead and Clinical Lead Speech and Language Therapist, of the Michael Palin Centre for Stammering in London

Acknowledgements: The team at the Michael Palin Centre would like to thank Action for Stammering Children for supporting this study. We are continuing to explore the nature of stuttering in childhood along with therapy for children who stutter and their families. We are grateful to the Stuttering Foundation for their continued partnership in our work.

From the Winter 2021 Magazine

CELEBRITY FOCUS

Lewis Carroll

The recent Disney version of Lewis Carroll’s classic, Alice in Wonderland, garnered a great deal of media hype. Even though the mainstream media has not made mention that Carroll was a person who stuttered, his family history gives credence to the discovery of the genetic link to stuttering. Carroll was born to parents who were first cousins; almost all of their eleven children, three girls and seven boys, struggled with stuttering past childhood.

Alan Rabinowitz

Alan Rabinowitz, Ph.D., who passed away in 2018, was an explorer, wildlife conservationist, and author. He established the Hukawng Valley Tiger Reserve in northern Myanmar, which is about the size of the state of Vermont.

His love for animals began when he was very young.

Winston Churchill

Seeking to "remove Winston Churchill's stutter by second guessing the diagnosis" indicates neither a truthful retelling of history nor an informed opinion about a complex speech disorder, say experts in the field of speech-language pathology.

Recent news reports that quote Dr. John Mather, a Washington physician, as saying that Churchill's stutter "is a lie" brought adamant critical response from specialists in the field of stuttering and fluency disorders.

Bill Walton

From BillWalton.com

Thank you for your interest in my life long problem with my speech and communication skills. I was a very shy and reserved young man who could not speak at all without severely stuttering until I was 28 years old. Always a success in the classroom and on the basketball court, I took refuge in the things that I did well as a youngster. A straight A student, my athletic abilities covered the deficiencies that limited my overall growth and development. The game of basketball was my religion, the gym my church. It was a convenient way of avoiding my responsibilities of developing my human relation skills.

When I was 28, a chance encounter at a social event with Hall of Fame broadcaster Marty Glickman completely changed my life in so many ways that things have never been the same since, nor have they ever been better. That day, in a very brief, private conversation (one way, mind you, since I literally could not speak at the time) Marty explained, patiently and concisely, that talking, communicating was a skill not a gift or a birthright and that like any skill, whether it be sports, music, business or whatever, needed to be developed over a lifetime of hard work, discipline, organization and practice. Marty gave me some simple tips that day and then encouraged me to take those keys and apply them to methods of learning that I had received from the special teachers that I had come across in my life, particularly the 6 Hall of Fame basketball coaches that I had played for throughout my career. The beginning of my whole new life was as simple as that. No gimmicks, tricks or shortcuts. Just the realization that with some help, guidance and a lot of hard work that I too could do what seemed so easy, simple and natural to everyone else, yet seemed impossibly out of my reach and comprehension.

James Earl Jones

Actor James Earl Jones, a Broadway, television and movie star, is well-known for his voice as Darth Vader in Star Wars and his book Voices and Silences. Jones has spoken some of the most memorable lines in the history of American film, but the man known for his voice was once afflicted with a severe stutter.