Cortical emotional reactivity, caregiver-reported emotional control, and stuttering frequency in young children.
Hatun Zengin-Bolatkale, Alexandra P Key, Robin M Jones
PMID 40555142WHAT IT FOUND
Among children who stutter, higher stuttering frequency was associated with greater brain reactivity to unpleasant images and poorer caregiver-reported emotional control.
These are correlations from a small sample, not evidence that emotions cause stuttering or that treating them reduces it.
Key findings
01For children who stutter, higher stuttering frequency was significantly correlated with greater cortical reactivity to unpleasant pictures.
02For children who stutter, higher stuttering frequency was significantly correlated with poorer caregiver-reported emotional control scores.
03Children who stutter had poorer emotional control scores than non-stuttering peers, but this group difference disappeared when expressive language ability was accounted for.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The sample size was small (20 CWS, 24 CWNS), limiting generalizability and statistical power. The study was correlational, so it cannot determine if emotional issues cause stuttering, if stuttering causes emotional issues, or if both are influenced by a third factor. The group difference in emotional control disappeared when controlling for expressive language, suggesting language ability is a key confounding variable. EEG data had a relatively small number of trials per condition, which can affect signal reliability. Participants overlapped with a previous study, which may impact independence of findings.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflicts of interest. The study was funded by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD).
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that emotional regulation training will reduce stuttering frequency. The study only shows a correlation between emotional reactivity and stuttering in a small group. Furthermore, the apparent difference in emotional control between children who stutter and those who do not disappeared when expressive language was taken into account, indicating that language skills are a critical confounding factor.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →