Table 1.
Summary of selected empirical studies of the temperament and emotional characteristics of young children who do (CWS) and do not stutter (CWNS).
| Study | Method of temperament / emotion assessment | Participants | Findings | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| N | Age | ||||||
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|
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| Total CWS (n girls) |
Total CWNS (n girls) |
Overall Range |
Mean (SD) | ||||
|
| |||||||
| CWS | CWNS | ||||||
| Published empirical investigations | |||||||
| Anderson et al. (2003) | Behavior Style Questionnaire (BSQ) | 31 (6) | 31 (6) | 3;0 - 5;4 years | 48.03 months | 48.58 months | CWS, compared to CWNS, exhibited less distractibility, nonadaptibility to change, and irregular biological functions on BSQ |
| Arnold et al. (2011) | EEGs and behavioral observation of emotion regulation | 9 (3) | 9 (3) | 3;0 - 5;11 years | 4;5 (9) years | 4;8 (8) years | No between-group (CWS vs. CWNS) difference in EEGs. Within-group: For CWS, decreased behavioral regulatory strategies related to increased stuttering |
| Choi et al. (2013) | Behavioral inhibition assessed by latency to 6th spontaneous utterance45 | 26 (4) | 28 (15) | 3;0 - 5;8 years | 48.89 (8.00) months | 46.96 (6.93) months | No between-group difference in behavioral inhibition (BI). Within-group: More CWS exhibited extremely high than extremely low BI. CWS with higher BI exhibited more stuttering than low BI CWS |
| Eggers et al. (2010) | Children's Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ) | 58 (13) | 58 (13) | 3.04 - 8.11 years | 5.11 (1.09) years | 5.11 (1.10) years | CWS, compared to CWNS, scored higher on scales of ‘anger/frustration’ and lower on ‘inhibitory control’ and ‘attentional shifting’ on CBQ |
| Eggers et al. (2012) | Computerized Attention Network Test | 41 (10) | 41 (10) | 4;0 - 9;0 years | 6;09 (1;05) years | 6;09 (1;05) years | CWS, compared to CWNS, exhibited significantly lower efficiency of the orienting network |
| Eggers et al. (2013) | Inhibitory control assessed via a Go/NoGo task | 30 (6) | 30 (6) | 4;10 - 10;00 years | 7;05 (1;05) years | 7;05 (1;05) years | CWS, compared to CWNS, exhibited lower inhibitory control via more false alarms and premature responses, lower reaction time for false responses, less ability to adapt response style after experience responses errors |
| Embrechts et al. (1998) | Children's Behavior Questionnaire | 38 (N/A) | 38 (N/A) | 3 - 7 years | N/A | N/A | CWS, compared to CWNS, exhibited higher activity level and impulsivity but lower attentional focusing, inhibitory control |
| Felsenfeld et al. (2010) | Multiple parental report measures (e.g., Child behavior checklist) | 826 | 19,072 | 5;00 - 7;00 years | N/A | N/A | CWS, compared to CWNS, received parental ratings of more problematic attention abilities |
| Howell et al. (2004) | Behavioral Style Questionnaire (BSQ) | 10 (3) | 10 (3) | 3;7 – 7;2 years | 5;10 (1.36) years | 5;4 (1.16) years | CWS, compared to CWNS, more active and negative as well as less adaptable and persistent |
| Johnson et al. (2010) | Behavioral observation of emotion during disappointing gift procedure | 16 (5) | 16 (5) | 3;0 - 5;9 years | 46.69 (8.55) months | 48.44 (8.89) months | CWS, compared to CWNS, exhibited more negative emotional expressions after receiving an undesirable gift |
| Johnson et al. (2012) | Reaction time and accuracy during two tasks of shifting and focusing attention | 12 (0) | 12 (0) | 3;0 - 5;11 years | 58.00 (6.78) months | 58.83 (9.20) months | No significant between-group differences in reaction time or accuracy |
| Karrass et al. (2006) | Behavior Style Questionnaire | 65 (22%) | 56 (41%) | 3;0 - 5;11 years | 48.89 (9.56) months | 48.9 (8.58) months | CWS, compared to CWNS, were more emotionally reactive and less able to regulate their emotions and attention |
| Lewis and Golberg (1997) | Parent Childhood Temperament Questionnaire for 3-7 Year-Olds | 11 (2) | 11 (2) | 35 - 58 months | 46.55 (N/A) months | 46.36 (N/A) months | CWS, compared to CWNS, are less negative and more adaptable |
| Ntourou et al.(2013) | Behavior observation during emotion eliciting experimental paradigm | 18 (4) | 18 (4) | 3;0 - 5;11 years | 51.67 (9.71) months | 53.61 (9.49) months | CWS, compared to CWNS, exhibited more negative emotion and self-speech. Within-group: CWS exhibited lower stuttering frequency during narrative tasks when they diverted their attention from a preceding emotion-inducing non-speech task |
| Ortega and Ambrose (2011) | Salivary samples collected four times daily | 9 (3) | N/A | 6 - 11 years | Males: 9.2 (N/A); Females: 9.5 (N/A) years | N/A | CWS, compared to published references established for normal children, exhibited significantly lower, though within normal limits salivary cortisol responses |
| Reilly et al. (2013) | 30-item Short Temperament Scale for Children | 181 (N/A) | 1438 (N/A) | 2 - 4 years | N/A | N/A | No between-group differences in temperament and social-emotional development |
| Schwenk et al. (2007) | Behavioral observation of attention and adaptation to background stimuli | 18 (8) | 18 (8) | 3;0 - 5;11 years | 47.1 (8.7) months | 51.1 (9.9) months | CWS, compared to CWNS, less able to ignore irrelevant background stimuli |
| Van der Merwe et al. (2011) | Salivary cortisol and child- and parent-based tests of anxiety | 7 (2) | 7 (2) | N/A | 4;1 (N/A) years | Matched | No significant between-group differences in trait and state anxiety |
| Walden et al. (2012) | Behavioral observation of emotion and emotion regulation and Children's Behavior Questionnaire | 19 (6) | 22 (13) | 37 - 60 months | 46.5 (N/A) months | 49.3 (N/A) months | For CWS, stuttering frequency was higher when high emotional arousal was accompanied by low emotion regulation |
Note: All reported values for chronological age are as reported in the original study.