An investigation of the relationship between attention skills,stuttering characteristics and anxiety levels in adults WHOstutter

Stuttering is currently described as multifactorial speech disorder. It is of critical importance to identify cognitive, behavioral and emotional dimensions of stuttering for comprehensive understanding of the nature of stuttering. The current research aims to evaluate attention skills in adults with stuttering, and to investigate attentional skills in relation to stuttering frequency, psychosocial influences and anxiety level. In line with this objective, adults with stuttering (n=50) and age, sex matched fluent speakers (n=50) were included in the study. Data collection process was conducted using 'Participant Information Collection Forms, stuttering frequency measurement, Stroop test TBAG form, Emotional Stroop test, The Wright and Ayre Stuttering Self-Rating Profile-TR and State Trait Anxiety Inventory'. The data was analysed using a descriptive comparative and correlational design. SPSS 25 package program was used for statistical analysis. The results showed that there was a significant difference in task completion time scores of Stroop task between the stuttering and non-stuttering adults. Compared to the control group, adults with stuttering had longer reaction times to the threat-related and stuttering- related words than the neutral words in the emotional Stroop task. In addition, state anxiety scores of adults with stuttering were found to be associated with both of the measured attention skills; and the frequency of stuttering was shown to be correlated only with focused/selective attention. In conlusion, the findings revealed that adults with stuttering differed from fluent speakers in terms of focused/selective attention skills, and exhibited attentional bias towards threatening stimuli. This research sheds light on the cognitive processes and emotional aspects associated with stuttering.