Anxiety Profile in Children and Adolescents with Stuttering

Objectives: To compare anxiety levels in children and adolescents who stutter with non-stuttering subjects. Methods: The study included 35 stuttering patients and 35 age and gender-matched control group. Both groups underwent subjective assessment of anxiety using Taylor anxiety scale. Stuttering severity was assessed in the patients’ group using the Arabic Stuttering Severity Instrument (A-SSI). Results: Stuttering group showed significantly higher anxiety levels than control subjects (p<0.0001). Taylor Anxiety scale results were significantly higher (P<0.05) in female stuttering patients than male patients. Anxiety scores showed a statistically significant negative correlation with age of onset of stuttering (r=-0.48, p = 0.002) and a statistically significant positive correlation with duration of stuttering (r= 0.329, p= 0.046). Conclusion: Children and adolescents with stuttering have significantly higher anxiety levels compared to control subjects. High anxiety scores were significantly related to early onset and longer duration of stuttering.