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. 2023 Jul 12;66(7):2278-2295.
doi: 10.1044/2023_JSLHR-23-00012. Epub 2023 Jun 30.

Exploring the Relationship Between Resilience and the Adverse Impact of Stuttering in Children

Bridget M Walsh  1 , Hannah Grobbel  1 , Sharon L Christ  2 , Seth E Tichenor  3 , Katelyn L Gerwin  1
Affiliations

Exploring the Relationship Between Resilience and the Adverse Impact of Stuttering in Children

Bridget M Walsh et al. J Speech Lang Hear Res. .

Abstract

Purpose: People who stutter often experience significant adverse impact related to stuttering. However, it is unclear how adverse impact develops in children who stutter (CWS) and whether there are protective factors that may mitigate its development. This study examined the relationship between resilience, a potentially protective factor, and stuttering's adverse impact in CWS. Resilience comprises external factors, such as family support and access to resources as well as personal attributes, making it a comprehensive protective factor to explore.

Method: One hundred forty-eight CWS aged 5-18 years completed the age-appropriate version of the Child and Youth Resilience Measure (CYRM) and the Overall Assessment of the Speaker's Experience of Stuttering. Parents completed a caregiver version of the CYRM and a behavioral checklist for their child. The adverse impact of stuttering was modeled as a function of resilience (external, personal, and total), controlling for child age and behavioral checklist score. We also estimated correlations between child-report and parent-report CYRM measures to assess rater agreement.

Results: Children reporting greater external, personal, or total resilience were more likely to experience lower degrees of adverse impact related to their stuttering. We documented stronger correlations between younger child and parent ratings of resilience and weaker correlations between older child and parent ratings.

Conclusions: These results yield valuable insight into the variability of adverse impact experienced by CWS and offer empirical support for strength-based speech therapy approaches. We discuss the factors that contribute to a child's resilience and provide practical suggestions for how clinicians can incorporate resilience-building strategies into intervention for children experiencing significant adverse impact from their stuttering.

Supplemental material: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.23582172.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Schematic diagram of the structural equation modeling framework used in the statistical analysis. The ovals represent latent (unobserved) variables, and the rectangles represent manifest (observed) variables. The e1–e17 terms represent measurement errors for the 17 CYRM-R items. The d1–d4 terms represent measurement errors for the four OASES sections. Curved, two-headed arrows represent covariances. Independent variables are allowed to covary as is standard in multiple variable regression. Straight, single-headed arrows represent direct paths (regression coefficients). OASES = Overall Assessment of the Speaker's Experience of Stuttering; CYRM = Child Youth and Resilience Measure; LV = latent variable.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Individual data points showing each child's resilience scores plotted against their average Overall Assessment of the Speaker's Experience of Stuttering (OASES) total score. The top graph presents external resilience scores; the middle graph, personal resilience scores; and the bottom graph, total resilience scores from the Child and Youth Resilience Measure.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
These graphs depict the results from the three structural equation models assessing the effects of resilience on the adverse impact of stuttering. The top graph presents the significant linear relationship between the Child and Youth Resilience Measure (CYRM) external latent variable (LV) and the Overall Assessment of the Speaker's Experience of Stuttering (OASES) total LV, the middle graph presents the significant linear relationship between the CYRM personal LV and the OASES total LV, and the bottom graph presents the significant linear relationship between the CYRM total LV and the OASES total LV.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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