Comparison of executive function skills in children aged 12 to 18 with and without cluttering

This study aims to investigate the relationship between cluttering and cognitive processes by comparing the executive function skills and spontaneous speech characteristics of children aged 12–18 with and without cluttering. Cluttering is a communication disorder characterised by impaired speech fluency, rapid and disorganised speech patterns, and has been associated with executive function deficits in the literature. The study was conducted with 40 children, who were divided into cluttering (n=20) and control (n=20) groups. Data collection tools included the Stroop Test TBAG Form, TR-PCI-r, and structured reading and spontaneous speech samples. Data analysis was performed using SPSS IBM with Mann Whitney U test, independent samples t-test, one-way ANOVA, and Chi-square tests. According to the findings, the cluttering group demonstrated lower performance than the control group in the disruptive effect section of the Stroop Test (Mean = 86.50 ± 13.29 sec; z = -2.735, p = .006). In spontaneous speech analysis, the cluttering group obtained significantly higher scores in fluency disorders such as syllable repetition (z = -2.059, p = .039), sound deletion (z = -3.830, p = .000), and word deletion (z = -2.619, p = .009). In conclusion, it has been shown that children with HBK have deficiencies in executive function skills, especially in the areas of attention and inhibition, and this is related to speech fluency. This study emphasises the importance of assessing executive function components in the diagnosis and intervention processes of cluttering.