Sympathetic arousal as a marker of chronicity in childhood stuttering.

PURPOSE: This study investigated whether sympathetic activity during a stressful speaking task was an early marker for stuttering chronicity.

METHOD: Participants were 9 children with persisting stuttering, 23 children who recovered, and 17 children who do not stutter. Participants performed a stress-inducing picture-naming task and skin conductance was measured across three time points.

RESULTS: Findings indicated that at the initial time point, children with persisting stuttering exhibited higher sympathetic arousal during the stressful speaking task than children whose stuttering recovered.

CONCLUSIONS: Findings are taken to suggest that sympathetic activity may be an early marker of heightened risk for chronic stuttering.