Trait Mindfulness and the Experience of Stuttering

There is minimal literature describing trait mindfulness in people who stutter and how aspects of trait mindfulness might relate to treatment outcomes and the experience of stuttering. The primary aim of this study was to determine whether there are differences in trait mindfulness in people who stutter compared to people who do not stutter to better inform the appropriateness of including mindfulness strategies in a comprehensive stuttering treatment plan.

Seventeen adults who stutter and 17 adults who do not stutter completed the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire to measure trait mindfulness as well as either the Overall Assessment of the Speaker's Experience of Stuttering or the Overall Assessment of the Speaker's Experience of Speaking Ability to measure the impact of stuttering or speaking experiences on their lives. A subset of 16 adults who stutter completed a battery of assessments on personal characteristics associated with the experience of stuttering (experiential avoidance, repetitive negative thinking, and inattention characteristics). This allowed for comparisons of trait mindfulness between people who stutter and people who do not stutter as well as for analyses of the potential relationships between trait mindfulness and speaking experience within each population and of various personal characteristics in people who stutter.

No significant differences in trait mindfulness were found between people who stutter and people who do not stutter. A strong negative correlation was found between the trait mindfulness facet of nonjudging of inner experiences and experiential avoidance.

Findings highlight the necessity of a comprehensive understanding of the specific characteristics of individual speakers when incorporating aspects of mindfulness into stuttering treatment.