Daily Emotions and Stuttering: What Is the Relation?

The purpose of this study was to examine the relation between daily emotions and stuttering. Daily data was acquired over an academic year from a three-year-old boy near onset of stuttering. The boy’s caregiver provided daily ratings regarding fluency and emotionality of the child during the four greatest emotional events of the child’s day. Each event was rated with respect to (a) event intensity, (b) emotional intensity, and (c) stuttering frequency. Results showed that daily ratings of stuttering frequency, as reported by the child’s caregiver, were related to event intensity rather than the child’s emotional intensity. Emotional intensity was related to stuttering frequency for negative emotions only. Thus, event intensity may contribute to both emotional arousal and stuttering.