Sympathetic arousal as a marker of chronicity in childhood stuttering

This study investigated whether sympathetic activity during a stressful speaking task was an early marker for stuttering chronicity.

Participants were 9 children with persisting stuttering, 23 children who recovered, and 17 children who do not stutter. Participants performed a stress-inducing picture-naming task and skin conductance was measured across three time points.

Findings indicated that at the initial time point, children with persisting stuttering exhibited higher sympathetic arousal during the stressful speaking task than children whose stuttering recovered.

Findings are taken to suggest that sympathetic activity may be an early marker of heightened risk for chronic stuttering.