An evaluation of an integrated fluency and resilience program for early developmental stuttering disorders

The temperament construct of effortful control, an index of self-regulation and resilience, has been found to be predictive of stuttering severity in children and is a potential indicator of clinical prognosis. Evidence supports early intervention for preschool stuttering, and the successful effect of parents as agents of change in their children's stuttering therapy. However, no previous studies have trained parents to improve self-regulation in their children as a component of stuttering therapy. This study aimed to explore the effects of addressing self-regulation, as a component of stuttering treatment, on child fluency as well as parent and child psychosocial outcomes.

This study implemented a preliminary parent administered resilience component in conjunction with stuttering therapy for children who stutter, and compared outcomes to a cohort of children who stutter who received stuttering therapy only. Twenty-eight children who stutter were randomly allocated to one of the two treatment groups. Dependent variables tested pre- and post-treatment included stuttered speech severity, parenting practices, and child resilience indicators. Outcomes were compared between groups at post treatment.

Stuttered speech severity decreased in both treatment groups. A reduction in behavioural and emotional problems, and increase in resilience was observed in the children who stutter whose parents received the additional resilience component of therapy. Furthermore, a significant improvement in parenting practices was demonstrated in this group. No significant changes in emotional and behavioural problems in children or parents were observed in the group of children who received fluency therapy only.

Results demonstrate that implementation of the resilience component was successful in positively shifting parenting practices and increasing behavioural resilience in children who stutter. This has clinical implications for successfully managing fluency while concurrently targeting the concomitant behavioural and emotional impacts of the disorder on both children and parents, potentially a key future prognostic indicator of the maintenance of fluency outcomes.