Stuttering severity and treatment outcome

This study evaluated a multidimensional treatment of stuttering (awareness training, regulated breathing, cognitive restructuring and relapse prevention) for mild, moderate and severe stutterers. Behavioral measures (percentage of syllables stuttered and rate of speech) and cognitive measures (self-efficacy perception, locus of control and Erickson Scale) were taken. Using three multiple baseline designs across subjects, results showed that all mild stutterers and most moderate stutterers were clinically improved at the end of treatment and at six months follow-up. No severe stutterers (more than 15% of syllables stuttered) achieved clinical improvement. Self-efficacy perceptions were quite accurate in predicting the performance of successfully treated patients. No consistent changes were observed on the locus of control or the Erickson Scale. The clinical and theoretical implications of the results are discussed.