www.e-gagueira.com.br - Abstract 2025 agosto a dezembro

Abstract - Agosto a Dezembro de 2025

A Meta-Analytical Review of Executive Function Skills in Adults who Stutter - PROCESSUAL

medRxiv [Preprint]. 2025 Sep 4:2025.09.02.25334917.

Free full text: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.02.25334917v1.full.pdf+html

Levi C Ofoe, Katerina Ntourou, Shari Clifton, Geoffrey A Coalson

Purpose: Executive function has been identified as a potential area of vulnerability in individuals who stutter. The present study identified and analyzed the data across empirical studies of the executive function skills of adults who do (AWS) and do not stutter (AWNS).

Method: Electronic databases, literature reviews, and reference sections of articles and dissertations were searched to identify candidate studies that examined behavioral measures of working memory, inhibition, and/or cognitive flexibility. A total of 39 studies met the eligibility criteria for this meta-analysis. A random-effects model was applied to estimate the pooled effect sizes (Hedges' g ) and 95% confidence intervals.

Results: AWS were significantly less accurate than AWNS on measures of working memory (Hedges' g = - 0.41, p < .001), including nonword repetition (Hedges' g = -.57, p < .001), forward digit span (Hedges' g = -0.23, p = .02), backward digit span (Hedges' g = -.38, p = .004) and operation span tasks (Hedges' g = - .37, p = .018). AWS performed comparably to AWNS on inhibition measures (Hedges' g = -0.10, p = .37). An insufficient number of published studies were available to conduct a meaningful analysis of cognitive flexibility.

Conclusions: Present findings suggest that AWS, as a group, exhibit weaknesses in one component of executive function - working memory - compared to AWNS. Additional research is necessary to determine potential differences in inhibition and cognitive flexibility in AWS.

PMID: 40950495 PMCID: PMC12424914

A Stage-1 trial of a hybrid speech-focused treatment for stuttering delivered in a non-residential semi-intensive format - TERAPIA

Case Reports J Fluency Disord. 2025 Aug 15:85 Online ahead of print.

Jessica Smith et al

1VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, USA; University of South Florida, USA.

Purpose: From 1981-1999, Pat Richard Sacco directed a residential, highly intensive, group, hybrid speech-focused treatment program for stuttering, five weeks in duration, which yielded significant reductions in stuttering and improved communication attitude. However, this model is costly, which may be a barrier to treatment. The aim of this study was to document preliminary outcomes of a three-week, non-residential, semi-intensive version of the program.

Method: Using a single subject, multiple-baseline, stacked AB design featuring three participants who stutter (two adults, one adolescent), baseline speech (monologue, read-aloud) was compared with speech following three treatment phases (stuttering exposure, stuttering modification, speech stabilization) for frequency of primary and secondary stuttering behaviors and speech rate. Ratings of speech naturalness were collected from listeners with no training in speech-language pathology. Finally, participant impressions of the treatment program and treatment impacts were gathered from graduation speeches.

Results: Relative to baseline speech, by the end of treatment: a) frequency of primary and secondary stuttering behaviors decreased to zero or near-zero for all participants, b) speech rate increased for one participant and decreased in one or both speaking tasks for two participants, and c) speech was produced with near-typical naturalness. Participants endorsed increased knowledge and confidence, sense of community, and speech-related behavioral changes.

Conclusions: The treatment reduced stuttering and changed speech rate, improved speech naturalness, and drove other acute perceived benefits in all participants. Additional research is warranted to document outcomes more comprehensively, on a larger scale, over the longer term, possibly with refinements for improving outcomes.

PMID: 40840362 DOI: 10.1016/j.jfludis.2025.106148

Assessing the response quality and readability of ChatGPT in stuttering - OUTRAS ÁREAS

J Fluency Disord. 2025 Aug 15:85:106149. Online ahead of print.

Saeed Saeedi & Mehdi Bakhtiar

The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China.

Objective: This study aimed to examine how frequently asked questions regarding stuttering were comprehended and answered by ChatGPT.

Methods: In this exploratory study, eleven common questions about stuttering were asked in a single conversation with the GPT-4o mini. While being blind relative to the source of the answers (whether by AI or SLPs), a panel of five certified speech and language pathologists (SLPs) was requested to differentiate if responses were produced by the ChatGPT chatbot or provided by SLPs. Additionally, they were instructed to evaluate the responses based on several criteria, including the presence of inaccuracies, the potential for causing harm and the degree of harm that could result, and alignment with the prevailing consensus within the SLP community. All ChatGPT responses were also evaluated utilizing various readability features, including the Flesch Reading Ease Score (FRES), Gunning Fog Scale Level (GFSL), and Dale-Chall Score (D-CS), the number of words, number of sentences, words per sentence (WPS), characters per word (CPW), and the percentage of difficult words. Furthermore, Spearman's rank correlation coefficient was employed to examine relationship between the evaluations conducted by the panel of certified SLPs and readability features.

Results: A substantial proportion of the AI-generated responses (45.50 %) were incorrectly identified by SLP panel as being written by other SLPs, indicating high perceived human-likeness (origin). Regarding content quality, 83.60 % of the responses were found to be accurate (incorrectness), 63.60 % were rated as harmless (harm), and 38.20 % were considered to cause only minor to moderate impact (extent of harm). In terms of professional alignment, 62 % of the responses reflected the prevailing views within the SLP community (consensus). The means ± standard deviation of FRES, GFSL, and D-CS were 26.52 ± 13.94 (readable for college graduates), 18.17 ± 3.39 (readable for graduate students), and 9.90 ± 1.08 (readable for 13th to 15th grade [college]), respectively. Furthermore, each response contained an average of 99.73 words, 6.80 sentences, 17.44 WPS, 5.79 CPW, and 27.96 % difficult words. The correlation coefficients ranged between significantly large negative value (r = -0.909, p < 0.05) to very large positive value (r = 0.918, p < 0.05).

Conclusion: The results revealed that the emerging ChatGPT possesses a promising capability to provide appropriate responses to frequently asked questions in the field of stuttering, which is attested by the fact that panel of certified SLPs perceived about 45 % of them to be generated by SLPs. However, given the increasing accessibility of AI tools, particularly among individuals with limited access to professional services, it is crucial to emphasize that such tools are intended solely for educational purposes and should not replace diagnosis or treatment by qualified SLPs.

PMID: 40848602 DOI: 10.1016/j.jfludis.2025.106149

Comparison of body image dissatisfaction among adolescent boys who do and do not stutter and investigating the relationship between body image dissatisfaction, anxiety and Self-assessed stuttering severity - INFANTIL / EMOCIONAL

Comparative Study BMC Psychol. 2025 Aug 11;13(1):893.

Mahsa Taherifard et al

Science and Arts University, Yazd, Iran; Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.

Background: Dissatisfaction with body image in adolescents may be associated with disorders such as anxiety. As studies have reported a high risk of anxiety disorders, especially social anxiety, in people who stutter, the present study aimed to compare body image dissatisfaction in adolescent boys who do and do not stutter and investigate the association between body image dissatisfaction and anxiety in both groups.

Materials and methods: This is a cross-sectional study in which 102 adolescent male students aged 15 to 17 years (divided into two groups: 51 who stutter and 51 who do not stutter) completed the questionnaires that included an informed consent form, a body image satisfaction scale, an anxiety scale, and a self-assessed stuttering severity scale.

Results: According to the results, 55% of adolescent boys who stutter had high levels of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and 59% of them had high levels of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), while in adolescent boys who do not stutter these percentages were 43% for OCD and 49% for GAD. In addition, adolescents who stuttered were found to be significantly more dissatisfied with their faces. The path analysis model also revealed a positive relationship between self-assessed stuttering severity and dissatisfaction with body image due to anxiety. In addition, the results showed that in both groups there was a positive correlation between the values of all anxiety subscales and dissatisfaction with body image.

Conclusion: A significant positive correlation was found between self-assessed stuttering severity, anxiety (particularly social anxiety), and body image dissatisfaction in adolescent boys. Therefore, the measurement of anxiety and body image dissatisfaction seems to be of particular importance in adolescent boys with moderate to high self-assessed stuttering severity.

PMID: 40790501 DOI: 10.1186/s40359-025-03266-y

Cortical somatosensory responses evoked by orofacial skin stretch experimentally applied during speech movement planning in stuttering and nonstuttering adults - AUDITIVO

IBRO Neurosci Rep. 2025 Aug 25:19:568-577.

Free Text: https://www.ibroneuroreports.org/action/showPdf?pii=S2667-2421%2825%2900134-4

Elise LeBovidge et al

University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA; Univ. Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France.

Prior findings indicate that individuals who stutter do not show the typical modulation of auditory processing that is observed during speech movement planning in nonstuttering speakers. We now ask whether this lack of planning-related sensory modulation in stuttering adults is specific to the auditory domain. In this first somatosensory study (15 stuttering and 15 nonstuttering participants), we implemented the prior stimulation timeline in a paradigm with orofacial skin stretch stimuli. A robotic device applied skin stretches to elicit somatosensory evoked potentials during speech movement planning and a silent reading control condition. We compared the N1 component for Speaking and No-Speaking to assess a possible influence of movement planning on somatosensory processing. Both groups showed clear N1 responses, consistent with prior validation of the skin stretch stimulation. However, for the selected timepoint of stimulation (i.e., identical to our auditory stimulation studies) we found no evidence of pre-speech somatosensory modulation in either group. There were no amplitude or latency differences between speaking and control conditions and no between-group differences. Given that even typical participants showed no modulation at the probed times during movement planning, whereas some studies have obtained evidence supporting somatosensory modulation for orofacial movements during speech movement execution, (a) the time course of modulation may differ from that observed for auditory stimuli, or (b) input from the specific facial mechanoreceptors stimulated here may be not subject to pre-speech modulation. Future studies should probe somatosensation at different timepoints before and after speech movement onset and in effectors actively performing the articulatory gestures (lip, tongue).

PMID: 40917631 PMCID: PMC12410527

De novo protein-coding gene variants in developmental stuttering - GENÉTICA

Mol Psychiatry. 2025 Aug 20. Online ahead of print.

Free Full Text: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41380-025-03170-2

Else Eising et al

Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, the Netherlands; Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany; Helmholtz Zentrum München, Oberschleißheim, Germany; Erasmus University Medical Center, GD, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Deutsches Zentrum Für Psychische Gesundheit, Munich, Germany; Munich Cluster for Systems Neurology (SyNergy), Munich, Germany; University Medical Center Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany; Institute of Neurogenomics, Helmholtz Munich, Munich, Germany; Radboud University, EN, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.

Developmental stuttering is a common childhood condition characterized by disfluencies in speech, such as blocks, prolongations, and repetitions. While most children who stutter do so only transiently, there are some for whom stuttering persists into adulthood. Rare-variant screens in families including multiple relatives with persistent stuttering have so far identified six genes carrying putative pathogenic variants hypothesized to act in a monogenic fashion. Here, we applied a complementary study design, searching instead for de novo variants in exomes of 85 independent parent-child trios, each with a child with transient or persistent stuttering. Exome sequencing analysis yielded a pathogenic variant in SPTBN1 as well as likely pathogenic variants in PRPF8, TRIO, and ZBTB7A - four genes previously implicated in neurodevelopmental disorders with or without speech problems. Our results also highlighted two further genes of interest for stuttering: FLT3 and IREB2. We used extensive bioinformatic approaches to investigate overlaps in brain-related processes among the twelve genes associated with monogenic forms of stuttering. Analyses of gene-expression datasets of the developing and adult human brain, and data from a genome-wide association study of human brain structural connectivity, did not find links of monogenic stuttering to specific brain processes. Overall, our results provide the first direct genetic link between stuttering and other neurodevelopmental disorders, including speech delay and aphasia. In addition, we systematically demonstrate a dissimilarity in biological pathways associated with the genes thus far implicated in monogenic forms of stuttering, indicating heterogeneity in the etiological basis of this condition.

PMID: 40836029 DOI: 10.1038/s41380-025-03170-2

Delayed auditory feedback increases speech production variability in typically fluent adults but has the opposite effect in stuttering adults - AUDITIVO

Front Hum Neurosci. 2025 Aug 29:19:1628114. eCollection 2025.

Free Full Text: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/human-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2025.1628114/full

Ayoub Daliri et all

Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States; University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States.

Purpose: Extensive evidence indicates that auditory-motor integration during speech production is inefficient in individuals who stutter and that speaking with delayed auditory feedback (DAF) increases speech fluency in this population. However, the exact mechanisms underlying these auditory-motor integration difficulties and the DAF-induced fluency enhancement remain unknown. Here, we examined (1) whether stuttering is associated with increased variability in the feedforward component of sensorimotor control and (2) whether speaking with DAF reduces this variability in speech movement planning in adults who stutter.

Method: We extracted acoustic measures from audio recordings made during a prior study that included 12 right-handed adults who stutter and 12 age-, sex-, and handedness-matched nonstuttering adults. Participants produced front vowels in the context of monosyllabic consonant-vowel-consonant words in conditions where they spoke with either normal auditory feedback (NAF) or 100-ms DAF. For each participant in each condition, we calculated trial-to-trial formant variability to assess feedforward processes.

Results: Relative to nonstuttering adults, stuttering adults generally showed greater trial-to-trial formant variability. DAF had a differential influence on trial-to-trial formant variability, increasing it for non-stuttering adults but decreasing it for stuttering adults.

Conclusion: These findings suggest that stuttering adults generated more variable motor commands than nonstuttering adults when speaking with NAF, but that speaking with DAF decreased variability in the stuttering group, even though it increased variability in the nonstuttering group. One possible interpretation of these findings is that stuttering modulates the sensorimotor system's processing of auditory errors, specifically influencing how significantly these errors are weighted when the sensorimotor system determines its responses to the errors.

PMID: 40949722 PMCID: PMC12425929

Differential tolerance for the judgement of dysfluencies as stuttered speech in native and non-native speech-language pathologists - AVALIAÇÃO

J Fluency Disord. 2025 Aug 26:86:106150. Online ahead of print.

Audrey J Dsouza & Santosh Maruthy

All India Institute of Speech and Hearing, Mysuru, India.

Purpose: Accurate diagnosis of stuttering requires careful observation by trained professionals. Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) typically identify stuttering using a perceptual judgement. However, it is unclear if this perception is based on the amount or the type of dysfluencies. Hence, the study aimed to determine the frequency of syllable/part-word repetitions judged as stuttered and to determine if the listener's language influences their judgement of fluency.

Method: Narrative samples of a Kannada-speaking child who stutters containing 1 %, 3 %, 5 %, 10 %, and 15 % of syllable or part-word repetitions were judged by 27 Kannada and Malayalam-speaking SLPs each as fluent, disfluent, or stuttered. Further, an opinion about recommending the child for speech therapy was taken. The chi-square test and Fisher's exact test were performed to compare the difference between the two groups.

Results: Comparison between the five frequencies of dysfluencies and the judgement of speech revealed a significant difference for Kannada and Malayalam language groups. The non-native SLPs required more dysfluencies to judge speech as stuttered compared to the native SLPs. Both groups of SLPs recommended speech therapy for samples above 5 % dysfluencies.

Conclusions: Familiarity of Malayalam-speaking SLPs with the Kannada language and the experience of the participants in the assessment of stuttering could have influenced the differences obtained in this study. However, current results indicate a differential threshold for the perception of dysfluencies (syllable and part-word repetitions) and the influence of the listener's language familiarity. Hence, language familiarity may be a factor in the judgement of dysfluencies as fluent, disfluent, and stuttered speech.

PMID: 40902406 DOI: 10.1016/j.jfludis.2025.106150

Effective Elicitation of Stuttering in Magnetic Resonance Imaging Data Collection Using a Suite of Connected Speech Tasks - NEUROCIÊNCIAS / FALA

J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2025 Aug 13:1-15. Online ahead of print.

Free Full Text: https://pubs.asha.org/doi/pdf/10.1044/2025_JSLHR-24-00764

Yijing Lu et al

University of Southern California, Los Angeles.

Purpose: Articulatory behaviors during moments of stuttering have been understudied, largely due to the technical difficulty of collecting such data. Tracking moving articulators during stuttering requires advanced instrumentation, and eliciting stuttering in a lab setting poses challenges for experimental design. To address these difficulties, we present a novel methodology that combines real-time vocal tract magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with a suite of connected speech tasks to elicit stuttering.

Method: A high-performance 0.55 T MRI system, with a custom eight-channel upper airway coil and a spiral balanced steady-state free precession pulse sequence, was used to acquire real-time MRI speech production data from seven adults who stutter. During scans, participants performed three connected speech tasks that incorporate stuttering-inducing factors: (a) passage reading, (b) short interviews with the experimenter, and (c) picture description within a time limit. Speech tasks were interleaved with one another.

Results: Each participant produced over 100 stuttered words, covering various disfluency types and linguistic features. Fluent and disfluent productions of the same words were elicited, enabling direct articulatory comparisons. Participants did not show a significant decrease in the percentage of syllables stuttered (%SS) inside the scanner compared to outside, suggesting that our protocol effectively mitigated fluency-enhancing factors during scanning. %SS in each speech task varied substantially across participants, justifying the inclusion of multiple task types. Interleaving different tasks helped maintain a stable %SS throughout. The collected real-time MRI vocal tract videos reveal meaningful articulatory behaviors during stuttering that are not detectable via acoustics alone.

Conclusions: The suite of specially designed speech tasks was effective in eliciting stuttering during real-time MRI data collection. Combining these speech tasks with dynamic MRI technology offers a powerful approach to studying the articulatory mechanisms of stuttering. In addition to real-time MRI, these speech tasks have the potential to be combined with other experimental instrumentation to facilitate collecting data specifically during stuttered speech.

PMID: 40802535 DOI: 10.1044/2025_JSLHR-24-00764

Evaluation of Stuttering in Multilingual Speakers: A Systematic Review of Diagnostic Recommendations - BILINGUISMO

Folia Phoniatr Logop. 2025 Sep 9:1-34. Online ahead of print.

Ai Leen Choo et al

Introduction There is no definitive, comprehensive guide for diagnosing stuttering in multilingual speakers, and research suggests that monolingual-based diagnostic criteria may lead to misidentification in this population. This systematic review aimed to identify and consolidate conventional diagnostic guidelines for multilingual speakers and evaluate their validity in light of empirical evidence on stuttering and multilingualism.

Method A systematic review was conducted using PubMed, Science Direct, SAGE, CINAHL, and Google Scholar using specific MESH terms (e.g., "stuttering", "multilingual", "bilingual", "bilingualism", "assessment", "diagnosis"). No limits were placed on the years of publication. A hand search of the bibliography of articles that met the criteria was also performed to identify articles that were not found by the database search.

Results After removing duplicates and applying the exclusion and inclusion criteria, 53 articles remained. Recommendations were related to the nature of speech disfluencies (e.g., evaluate types and frequencies of stuttering behaviors and associated behaviors such as excessive muscular tension and physical concomitants in all languages spoken), diagnostic procedures (e.g., consider case history; language history, proficiency, and dominance), and supplementary data (e.g., use standardized assessments designed for bilinguals).

Conclusion Collectively, findings support a holistic approach that considers current knowledge about multilingual language development, speech patterns, and broader speaker characteristics beyond disfluencies. In particular, there was an overwhelming consensus that stuttering should be evaluated in all languages spoken, and that the presence of dysrhythmic phonation (i.e., blocks and prolongations) and associated behaviors such as excessive tension and physical concomitants (e.g., eye twitching, facial grimacing, head jerks) increase diagnostic accuracy. Results also highlight the need for comprehensive, validated guidelines, and dynamic assessments to augment standardized evaluation for multilingual speakers.

PMID: 40924645 DOI: 10.1159/000548382

Left thalamic deep brain stimulation for persistent developmental stuttering - TERAPIA

J Fluency Disord. 2025 Aug 13:85:106147. Online ahead of print.

Christian A Kell et al

Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany; University of Muenster, Muenster, Germany; University Hospital Osnabrueck, Osnabrueck, Germany.

Background and purpose: Persistent developmental stuttering is a frequent speech fluency disorder that can considerably reduce quality of life. Because available therapies do not always provide satisfying results, new therapeutic approaches are needed. The anomalous cerebral speech network in persons who stutter provides substrate for neuromodulation. We report here the effectiveness of deep brain stimulation (DBS) used for the first time to treat stuttering.

Methods: A 24-year-old male who stuttered severely since childhood received chronic left ventral intermediate thalamic nucleus electrical stimulation following a patient- and examiners-blinded two-year stimulation protocol. Stuttering frequency was determined as percent stuttered syllables and stuttering severity using the Stuttering Severity Instrument - 4th edition (SSI-4). The Overall Assessment of the Speaker's Experience of Stuttering - Adults (OASES-A) questionnaire quantified the patient's self-evaluated experience of stuttering and quality of life.

Results: The average stuttering frequency decreased by 46 % postoperatively and the stuttering severity by 29 %. The maximal achieved reduction of stuttering frequency was 62 % and of stuttering severity 39 %; self-assessment of stuttering improved by 38 %. Stuttering frequency was negatively associated with DBS stimulation frequency, demonstrating a biological stimulation effect beyond any potential placebo effects. Stuttering responded to stimulation parameter changes with a lag of several weeks, pointing to a rather slow modulatory than direct suppressive effect of deep brain stimulation on stuttering.

Conclusion: These results suggest deep brain stimulation as a new treatment option for severe stuttering and warrant further systematic exploration in a series of people who stutter.

PMID: 40829240 DOI: 10.1016/j.jfludis.2025.106147

Listening to Voices That Matter: The Speech Therapy Experiences of People Who Stutter - TERAPIA

J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2025 Aug 29:1-28. Online ahead of print.

Matthew C Phillips & Tammie J Spaulding

University of Connecticut, Storrs.

Purpose: This study investigated the speech therapy experiences of people who stutter (PWS) in childhood and adulthood, including the helpfulness and generalizability of specific intervention approaches.

Method: PWS (N = 194) completed a mixed-methods survey. Respondents provided quantitative ratings of their overall opinion of speech therapy and of specific speech therapy approaches received during childhood and adulthood. Respondents also provided open-ended responses to questions asking what they found most and least helpful about speech therapy received during each life stage and why. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and one-way analysis of variance; qualitative data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis.

Results: PWS reported mixed opinions of speech therapy, with speech therapy received during childhood viewed particularly unfavorably and rated significantly more negatively than that received during adulthood. Quantitative and qualitative analyses converged, with PWS generally preferring speech therapy approaches that emphasized the affective, behavioral, cognitive, and social correlates of stuttering over those that emphasized speech fluency.

Conclusions: These results have important implications for improving the clinical practice of speech-language pathologists in their provision of speech therapy services to PWS across the lifespan. Through considering the lived experiences and voices of PWS in the development and execution of speech therapy programs, speech-language pathologists can enhance their evidence-based treatment practices for this population by delivering intervention that PWS value.

PMID: 40882134 DOI: 10.1044/2025_JSLHR-24-00792

Non-vocal motor deficits in a transgenic mouse model linked to stuttering disorders: preprint. GENÉTICA

[Preprint]. 2025 Aug 13:2025.08.08.669441

Free Full Text: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12363774/pdf/nihpp-2025.08.08.669441v2.pdf

Marissa Millwater et al

Stuttering is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by involuntary disruptions in speech. In addition, non-vocal motor impairments are reported in some individuals who stutter. Although its precise cause remains unknown, mutations in lysosomal trafficking proteins (such as GNPTAB) have been identified in a subgroup of people who stutter. To understand the functional significance of these mutations, transgenic Gnptab mice have been developed, and as expected, these mice exhibit vocal deficits throughout developmental stages. However, whether these mice also display non-vocal motor impairments is unknown. Our data reveal deficits in the breathing, locomotion, and grooming behaviors of the Gnptab mouse model, outlining a broader phenotype linked to GNPTAB mutations in stuttering. These findings suggest that lysosomal dysfunction may disrupt astrocyte-regulated motor circuits, affecting both vocal and non-vocal rhythmic behaviors that are central to stuttering neurophysiological symptoms.

PMID: 40832309 PMCID: PMC12363774 DOI: 10.1101/2025.08.08.669441

Practice for adolescent stuttering: a review of medical records from a Swedish cohort - INFANTIL/TERAPIA

Logoped Phoniatr Vocol. 2025 Sep 2:1-13. Online ahead of print.

Free article: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/14015439.2025.2553239?needAccess=true

Sandra Pagoldh 1, Tove Edmar Lagerberg 2

Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden; University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.

Background: Stuttering, during adolescence, may influence adult life. However, little is known about currently applied clinical procedures for assessment and treatment of stuttering in adolescence.

Aim: The aim of the present study was to investigate clinicians' assessment and intervention routines and if choice of intervention was related to factors such as age, gender, or stuttering severity.

Method: Medical records from 51 adolescents who had visited a Speech and Language Therapy clinic were included. Group differences were analysed through nonparametric Mann-Whitney U test and correlations through Spearman's correlation test.

Results and conclusions: Most of the participants were assessed through subjective severity ratings or descriptions in free text and no formal treatment evaluation was performed. All participants received treatment in line with evidenced based practice for adults who stutter. There was a significant difference in number of sessions related to gender and overt stuttering severity but not to age. The clinicians rely on their clinical expertise regarding assessment of overt symptoms and impact of stuttering which may be a deliberate choice related to the need of their clients and ethical considerations. The inconsistent use of assessment tools hindered treatment evaluation, which is desirable to ensure optimal care.

PMID: 40891527 DOI: 10.1080/14015439.2025.2553239

Selective Attention and Emotional Interference in Adults Who Stutter: Evidence from Stroop Tasks - EMOCIONAL

Folia Phoniatr Logop. 2025 Aug 14:1-21. Online ahead of print.

Merve Aydoğuş, Aylin Müge Tunçer

Introduction: Stuttering encompasses complex cognitive, behavioral, and emotional mechanisms that interact dynamically. Clarifying the multidimensional nature of stuttering is fundamental to both its conceptual understanding and the advancement of evidence-based treatment. This study aimed to investigate cognitive and emotional interference in adults who stutter (AWS) and explore its relationship with anxiety levels, stuttering frequency, and the psychosocial impact of stuttering.

Methods: Fifty AWS and fifty age- and sex-matched fluent controls participated in this study. Data were collected using the Stroop TBAG test, the Emotional Stroop test, the Wright and Ayre Stuttering Self-Rating Profile (WASSP-TR), the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and stuttering frequency measures. Descriptive, comparative, and correlational analyses were conducted using SPSS version 25.

Results: The AWS demonstrated significantly longer completion times on the Stroop task than fluent speakers. In the Emotional Stroop task, they also exhibited prolonged reaction times to stuttering-related and threat-related words, while reaction times to neutral words did not differ significantly between the groups. State anxiety was significantly associated with both attention measures, whereas stuttering frequency was correlated specifically with selective attention.

Conclusions: The findings indicate that adults who stutter (AWS) differ significantly from fluent controls in their performance on tasks requiring selective attention and exhibit an attentional bias toward emotionally salient stimuli. These results underscore the relevance of cognitive and emotional processes in stuttering and support the integration of anxiety- and attention-related dimensions into clinical assessment and therapy planning.

PMID: 40815100 DOI: 10.1159/000547978

What Factors Contribute to the Motivation of Adults Who Stutter to Continue Their Treatment? A Qualitative Study - TERAPIA

Int J Lang Commun Disord. 2025 Sep-Oct;60(5):e70102.

Atefeh Moazeni et al

Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran; Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.

Background: Stuttering is a chronic condition that requires long-term management. Previous research emphasizes that motivation plays a critical role in therapy success. Motivation is an intrinsic process that drives and directs behaviour, making it a key determinant in whether individuals continue or discontinue therapy.

Aims: This study aims to explore the factors influencing the motivation of adults who stutter to continue therapy, focusing on identifying themes and insights related to therapy continuation.

Methods and procedures: A qualitative content analysis approach was used, involving 24 adults aged 30 to 40 who stutter. Participants were recruited through purposeful and snowball sampling from social media groups of the Iranian Stuttering Association and speech and language pathologists' platforms. Participants were divided into two groups: those who chose to continue their speech therapy (n = 11) and those who decided to discontinue it (n = 13). Data were collected through semi-structured, in-depth interviews conducted online, which were analysed using content analysis to identify themes and subthemes related to the motivation of continuing stuttering therapy.

Outcomes and results: The study identified six key themes that influence motivation to continue therapy: therapist characteristics, therapy structure and process, therapeutic setting and tools, perceived treatment effectiveness, client psychological dynamics, and social support and perception. These themes played a critical role in shaping clients' motivation and their decision to persist in therapy.

Conclusions and implications: This research underscores that a strong therapeutic alliance, along with supportive family and social environments, can enhance motivation by fulfilling basic psychological needs (autonomy, competence, and relatedness). These needs can be addressed by focusing on effective therapeutic interactions, minimizing ambiguity in the treatment process, designing tailored treatment plans based on each client's unique goals and circumstances, fostering active participation, and providing constructive feedback.

What this study adds to the existing knowledge This study identifies key themes influencing motivation for continuing or discontinuing stuttering therapy, including individualized treatment plans, therapist characteristics, and supportive environments.

PMID: 40757417 DOI: 10.1111/1460-6984.70102

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