Telepractice resilience training for children who stutter: A single-arm pre-post feasibility study

Area of Science:

• Speech-language pathology
• Child psychology
• Telehealth

Background:

• Children who stutter (CWS) often face challenges impacting their resilience and daily communication.
• Existing interventions may not fully address the psychosocial aspects of stuttering.
• Telepractice offers a potential solution for delivering speech and resilience services remotely.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the feasibility and preliminary clinical outcomes of a 12-session resilience program for CWS delivered via telepractice.
• To evaluate the program's impact on resilience and stuttering-related quality of life.
• To determine the acceptability of telepractice delivery for CWS and their caregivers.

Main Methods:

• A single-arm, pre-post pilot study involving six children who stutter (CWS) and their caregivers.
• Feasibility assessed through recruitment, retention (83%), procedural viability, and caregiver acceptability.
• Primary outcomes measured by the Child and Youth Resilience Measure-Revised (CYRM-R) and the Overall Assessment of the Speaker's Experience of Stuttering-School-Age (OASES-S).

Main Results:

• The resilience program delivered via telepractice met feasibility benchmarks.
• Child and Youth Resilience Measure-Revised (CYRM-R) scores showed a positive trend (median increase of +8.5, p=0.156), with 4/6 participants showing meaningful improvement.
• The Overall Assessment of the Speaker's Experience of Stuttering-School-Age (OASES-S) showed no group change, but exploratory analysis indicated improvement in communication in daily situations (r≈-0.77, p=0.083).

Conclusions:

• Telepractice-based resilience training is a feasible and acceptable intervention for children who stutter (CWS).
• Preliminary findings indicate a positive direction towards enhanced resilience and improved communication in daily situations.
• These results warrant a larger, controlled trial to further validate the intervention's efficacy.