Anxiety and post-treatment stuttering severity
Presenters: Susan Block La Trobe University, Australia Mark Onslow & Ann Packman, University of Sydney
By Carolyn Cheasman, City Lit, London

Susan Block presented this paper and described a study of 30 adults who attended a five day intensive speech restructuring course using smooth speech. The research looked at the relationship between two variables: 'state anxiety', and 'percentage syllables stuttered (%SS)'. State anxiety refers to anxiety linked to a specific context or moment in time. It is different from trait anxiety which refers to the underlying anxiety that a person may have.

State anxiety was measured by the Speilberger State Anxiety Inventory (STAI) which consists of 20 statements such as 'I feel frightened' and 'I'm relaxed'. These statements are rated on a four-point scale going from 'not at all' to 'very much so'. The inventory was completed immediately before 10 minutes of individual conversation with the clinician and this was done pre and post therapy. The %SS were also calculated for these samples of speech. The results were analysed and show no significant correlation between state anxiety and %SS pre-treatment. This was considered to be unsurprising.

However, Susan reported they were more surprised to find a significant post-treatment correlation between the two variables. This indicated that, after therapy, higher levels of state anxiety tended to predict higher levels of stuttering. Statistical analyses were also conducted to try to assess how much state anxiety might contribute to degree of stuttering. This is different to looking at straightforward correlational relationships between the two variables. The results were then discussed and it was considered that the presence of a significant relationship post-treatment may have related to clients being anxious to perform well. Performing 'well' in the context of a fluency training programme such as this is likely to mean participants wanting to stutter as little as possible. This could have put pressure on the use of their fluency technique.

I found the significant result post-treatment less surprising and think it might be anticipated that for some people participating in a programme which focuses so exclusively on fluency might be likely to increase anxiety about stammering. The therapy is very different from most programmes in this country which tend to include significant amounts of work on reducing anxiety about stammering through work on desensitisation strategies alongside work on speech management techniques.

From the Autumn 2005 edition of Speaking Out