The Effect of Situational Speaking Anxiety on Stuttering Frequency in Adults Who Stutter

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine whether there is a relationship between degree of speaking anxiety, pressure to not stutter, and stuttering in varying speaking situations using two different methodologies. In Study I, 99 adult stutterers rated 30 hypothetical speaking situations on expected speaking anxiety, expected pressure to not stutter, and expected stuttering. A strong positive relationship was found between all pairs of variables. Correlations were significantly stronger for subjects who had participated in therapy but there were no marked gender differences. In Study II, 8 adult stutterers participated in two live speaking situations to examine whether stuttering frequency differs for speech produced in high vs low anxiety situations. While the study fell short of accomplishing the high versus low anxiety contrast, significant correlations were found between the three variables of stuttering, anxiety, and effort to control stuttering.