Stuttering severity and social anxiety among adults who stutter: A multilevel analysis

The purpose of this study is to further investigate the association between social anxiety and stuttering severity among adults who stutter (AWS) at both the between- and within-person levels of analysis.

Sixty-two AWS (women = 27, men = 35; M_age = 39.5 years, SD_age = 14.8) first completed a questionnaire (e.g., trait social anxiety and personality traits) and provided two speech samples (i.e., conversation, reading). Then, participants enrolled in up to 21 days of ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to self-report their momentary stuttering severity, social anxiety, and avoidance behaviors during social interactions. Correlational analyses and hierarchical regression analyses were conducted on between-person level measures. Multilevel mediation analysis was conducted on EMA data to disaggregate between- and within-person processes.

At the between-person level, percent syllables stuttered (%SS) and person mean Self-Reported Stuttering Severity (iSRSS) were both significantly correlated with trait social anxiety, but not above and beyond the effects of neuroticism, extraversion, the overall impact of stuttering, and avoidance behaviors. At the within-person level, when AWS self-reported to stutter more than they usually do on average, they also tended to exhibit higher levels of social anxiety than they usually did, regardless of the amount of avoidance behaviors exhibited at those moments. The within-person effect between stuttering severity and social anxiety was also significantly mediated by avoidance behaviors.

The associations between social anxiety and stuttering differed based on the analysis level (between vs within-person) and whether covariates are included.