The effect of desensitization therapy applied to parents of preschool children with stuttering on attitudes and anxiety of children and parents

The aim of this study is to investigate the changes in children's communication attitudes and speech behaviors, parents' feelings and attitudes towards stuttering, general attitudes and anxiety levels by desensitizing the parents of preschool children (3-6 years old) who stutter. 20 preschool children who stutter and their parents participated in the study. In this study having one-group pre-test, post-test experimental design, data were collected before and after the therapies and 3 months after the end of the therapies as follow-up. Mothers and fathers completed the "Turkish Version of Stuttering Parental Diagnostic Questionnaire", "Parent Attitude Scale", and "State and Trait Anxiety Inventory"; on the other hand, "Turkish Communication Attitude Test for Preschool and Kindergarten Children Who Stutter" scale were applied to the children. The therapy process was carried out for 8 weeks and 10 sessions in total with only the parents. In the statistical analysis, independent t-test was used for the difference between two independent groups to compare data, and repeated measures analysis of variance was used to compare more than two dependent stages. Following the desensitization therapy applied to the parents, statistically significant positive improvements were observed in children's communication attitudes and speech behaviors and in parents' feelings and attitudes towards stuttering. Parents exhibited significantly more democratic and less authoritarian, overprotective and permissive attitudes. There was a significant decrease in the general anxiety levels of the parents. In conclusion, desensitization therapy applied to parents was found to be effective in the management of stuttering in preschool stuttering children for both the child and the parents.