Emotional Reactivity and Regulation in Preschool Children who Stutter

Jan Karrass, Tedra A. Walden, Edward G. Conture, Corrin G. Graham, Hayley S. Arnold, Kia N. Hartfield and Krista A. Schwenk

This study assessed relations between children’s emotional reactivity, emotion regulation and stuttering using multiple measures. Participants were 36 preschool children who stutter (CWS) and 32 preschool children who do not stutter (CWNS). Parents reported on their children’s emotional reactivity and regulation via standardized questionnaires. CWS, when compared to CWNS, displayed more reactivity (i.e., higher negative affect) and were less able to effectively regulate their emotions (i.e., less inhibitory control and instrumental coping, and less effective control over emotions). Findings suggest that CWS’s relatively greater emotional reactivity and less effective emotion regulation may exacerbate/maintain difficulties these children have establishing fluent speech.