Stuttering generalization self-measure: Preliminary development of a self-measuring tool

Area of Science:

• Speech-language pathology
• Psycholinguistics
• Clinical psychology

Background:

• Treatment generalization is challenging for people who stutter (PWS), impacting long-term success.
• A need exists for standardized measures assessing behavioral, cognitive, and self-perceptual aspects of stuttering in real-world contexts.
• Current assessments lack a comprehensive approach to real-life speaking situations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce the preliminary development of the Stuttering Generalization Self-Measure (SGSM).
• To assess stuttering severity and speech anxiety during real-life situations from the PWS perspective.
• To explore correlations between stuttering severity and speech anxiety within the same situations.

Main Methods:

• Developed the SGSM with nine speaking situations, refined to seven based on participant feedback.
• Created assessment items categorized by listener type (e.g., family, strangers, authority figures).
• Administered the SGSM to 43 participants (22 PWS, 21 controls), aged 18-53, in real-life speaking scenarios.

Main Results:

• The SGSM demonstrated high test-retest reliability for both PWS and control groups.
• Discriminant validity was established, with significant score differences between PWS and controls for stuttering and anxiety.
• Convergent validity was confirmed through significant correlations with existing speech anxiety measures.

Conclusions:

• The SGSM is a reliable and valid tool for assessing stuttering severity and speech anxiety in real-life situations.
• The measure effectively differentiates between people who stutter and controls.
• The SGSM provides valuable insights for improving stuttering treatment generalization and managing speech-related anxiety.