Associations between stuttering, comorbid conditions and executive function in children: a population-based study

Abstract

Background The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between executive function (EF), stuttering, and comorbidity by examining children who stutter (CWS) and children who do not stutter (CWNS) with and without comorbid conditions. Data from the National Health Interview Survey were used to examine behavioral manifestations of EF, such as inattention and self-regulation, in CWS and CWNS. Methods The sample included 2258 CWS (girls = 638, boys = 1620), and 117,725 CWNS (girls = 57,512; boys = 60,213). EF, and the presence of stuttering and comorbid conditions were based on parent report. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the distribution of stuttering and comorbidity across group and sex. Regression analyses were to determine the effects of stuttering and comorbidity on EF, and the relationship between EF and socioemotional competence. Results Results point to weaker EF in CWS compared to CWNS. Also, having comorbid conditions was also associated with weaker EF. CWS with comorbidity showed the weakest EF compared to CWNS with and without comorbidity, and CWS without comorbidity. Children with stronger EF showed higher socioemotional competence. A majority (60.32%) of CWS had at least one other comorbid condition in addition to stuttering. Boys who stutter were more likely to have comorbid conditions compared to girls who stutter. Conclusion Present findings suggest that comorbidity is a common feature in CWS. Stuttering and comorbid conditions negatively impact EF.

Prevalence, severity and risk factors for speech disorders in US children

“…A study examining treatment referral patterns in bilingual and monolingual children found that parents of bilingual children were more likely to report expressive language concerns compared to speech concerns while the reverse was true for monolingual children (Stow & Dodd, 2005). The prevalence of speech disorders in the present study is consistent with previous studies reporting higher rates of speech disorders in children with comorbidity and males, and decreasing rates with age (Choo, Smith & Li, 2020).…”

“…The contribution of comorbid conditions (i.e. the presence of more than one disorder) is also of interest as speech disorders, neurodevelopmental disorders and health conditions commonly co-occur (Choo, Smith & Li, 2020;Silva, Couto & Molini-Avejonas, 2013). It is also unclear if these factors are correlated with symptom severity.…”

Weak Vestibular Response in Persistent Developmental Stuttering: Implications for Own Voice Identification

“…Meta-analysis of language tests in children who stutter (receptive and expressive vocabulary, mean length of utterance, syntactic complexity, homogeneity analysis) shows subtle rather than clinically significant differences from controls (Ntourou et al, 2010). Similarly subtle differences between children who do and do not stutter are reported in tests related to attention and executive function (Ofoe et al, 2018;Choo et al, 2020).…”

“…Sometimes differences in the integration of motor control with timing systems, and/or sensory or proprioceptive input, are implied. Examples include movement initiation latency and movement duration, andChoo et al (2020);Ofoe et al (2018);Ntourou et al (2011);Max (2004);Bloodstein (1995);Rosenfield & Jerger (1984)…”

Fundamentos biológicos para a educação especial: anormalidades da formação cerebral e os transtornos de desenvolvimento neural

“…Os fatores não genéticos, ou ambientais (neste caso o termo ambiental diz respeito ao ambiente do ser em formação, seja no período embrionário, fetal ou perinatal), são infecções, condições maternas (consumo de álcool ou drogas psicoativas e medicamentos, exposição a poluentes, etc.) e complicações do parto (GILBERT; HY, 2017;HABERSTROH;SCHULTE-KÖRNE, 2019;CHOO;SMITH;LI, 2020;THAKRAN et al, 2020;HALLMAN-COOPER;CABERO, 2021;LEE;CACELLA;MAGNUS et al, 2021;REMIEN;.…”