Coping with stress in adults with speech fluency disorders

Abstract

<b>Background</b><br /> Stuttering is a developmental speech disorder that affects the fluency of speech. Persons who stutter perceive speaking situations and social interactions as threatening.<br /> <br /> <b>Participants and procedure</b><br /> Nineteen (47.50%) adults with speech fluency disorders (SFD) and 21 (52.50%) without participated in the study. All participants completed the following measures individually: the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS), and an informational survey.<br /> <br /> <b>Results</b><br /> Our study confirmed that persons with SFD experience more stressful situations in life and feel greater anxiety, both as a trait and as a state, which influences their daily life. The negative affect experienced contributed to their preferred use of Emotion-Oriented Coping strategies, at the expense of more proactive Task-Oriented Coping. Experienced stress and anxiety influenced and consolidated their habitual stress coping styles, devoted mainly to dealing with negative emotions.<br /> <br /> <b>Conclusions</b><br /> Stuttering affects daily activities, interpersonal relationships, and the quality of life. Therefore, professional support should include adaptive, task-oriented coping.