Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Meta-Analysis
. 2014 Jun:40:35-43.
doi: 10.1016/j.jfludis.2014.01.001. Epub 2014 Jan 15.

Trait and social anxiety in adults with chronic stuttering: conclusions following meta-analysis

Ashley Craig  1 , Yvonne Tran  2
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Trait and social anxiety in adults with chronic stuttering: conclusions following meta-analysis

Ashley Craig et al. J Fluency Disord. 2014 Jun.

Abstract

Purpose: The relationship between chronic stuttering and anxiety has been a matter of some debate over the past two decades, with a major emphasis of research focused on examining whether people who stutter have abnormally elevated levels of trait or social anxiety. The major goal of this paper was to perform a systematic literature review and perform meta-analyses on research that has assessed (i) trait anxiety and (ii) social anxiety, in adults who stutter.

Method: Only studies that met strict inclusion criteria were selected for the meta-analyses. Two meta-analyses were conducted, the first for trait anxiety, and the second for social anxiety. Meta-analysis combines statistically the results of selected studies that meet strict design criteria, thereby clarifying the size of differences in trait and social anxiety between adults who stutter and adults who do not stutter.

Results: Meta-analytic results confirmed that adults with chronic stuttering do have substantially elevated trait and social anxiety. The overall effect size for trait and social anxiety was calculated to be .57 and .82, respectively.

Conclusions: Trait and social anxiety are definite problems for many adults who stutter. Clinical implications of these findings for the diagnosis and treatment of adult who stutter are discussed.

Educational objectives: The reader will be able to: (a) describe the process of conducting a systematic review and meta-analysis; (b) describe the possible impact of publication bias on meta-analysis results; (c) explain the impact of a chronic disorder like stuttering on levels of trait anxiety; (d) explain the impact of stuttering on levels of social anxiety; (e) interpret the results of meta-analysis when applied to differences in anxiety between adult people who stutter and those who do not stutter; and (f) describe implications for fluency enhancing treatments.

Keywords: Chronic disorder; Meta-analyses; Social anxiety; Stuttering; Trait anxiety.

PubMed Disclaimer