Mental well-being, emotional-cognitive processing, and attention skills in individuals with cluttering

Cluttering is a fluency disorder marked by a rapid and irregular speech rate and articulation difficulties such as "slurred" speech and sound omissions. These speech disruptions reduce intelligibility and negatively impact communication. Treatment for individuals with cluttering typically focuses on improving their speech clarity and fluency. In contrast, while addressing speech disruptions, treatment for stuttering, a related fluency disorder, extends to include psychological and emotional aspects. This broader approach is based on research linking stuttering to mental health indicators such as depression, anxiety, and attention disorders, as well as to psychological flexibility. These emotional and psychological aspects and their associations remain underexplored in the context of cluttering.

To examine mental well-being, emotional-cognitive processing, and attention abilities in individuals with cluttering and to explore the relationships between these measures.

Thirty-one adults diagnosed with cluttering completed questionnaires designed to assess mental well-being (i.e., anxiety, depression, somatic complaints), emotional-cognitive processing (alexithymia, psychological flexibility), and attention skills.

High rates of anxiety symptoms, somatic complaints, reduced emotional-cognitive processing (high alexithymia), and attention difficulties were found among the study participants. Typical levels of psychological flexibility were observed. Alexithymia was associated with lower well-being.

Our results suggest that lower mental well-being levels and higher rates of alexithymia symptoms and attention difficulties characterize individuals with cluttering. Accordingly, we recommend including an assessment of these factors in cluttering diagnosis. In treating cluttering, similar to stuttering treatment, it is advisable to address emotional aspects, specifically by methods designed to enhance emotional-cognitive processing.