Department of Language and Cognition, University College London, United Kingdom.
Department of Special Needs Education, University of Oslo, Norway.
Lang Speech Hear Serv Sch. 2023 Apr 3;54(2):535-549. doi: 10.1044/2022_LSHSS-22-00086. Epub 2023 Feb 17.
Children and adolescents who stutter may be at risk of elevated anxiety and depression symptoms, although studies have indicated variability in reported internalizing symptoms in this population. This study considers the association between anxiety and depression symptoms and stuttering, as well as child, family, and contextual factors that may affect this association.
Thirty-five school-age children who stutter completed the Revised Children's Anxiety and Depression Scale-Short Version. We fitted regression models to examine the association between anxiety and depression symptoms with bullying, stuttering severity, family history of adverse mental health, and age in children who stutter.
Family history of adverse mental health was found to significantly predict anxiety and depression scores. Age also predicted depression scores, with older children reporting higher scores.
Family history of adverse mental health is associated with higher self-reported internalizing symptoms in children who stutter. The interaction between child, family, and contextual factors may change with age, and this requires further exploration in larger, longitudinal studies. The association between bullying and anxiety scores indicates the importance of anti-bullying initiatives in promoting psychosocial development in school-age children who stutter. This study also highlights the contribution of known risk factors for mental health, such as family history, to variability in symptom reporting.
口吃的儿童和青少年可能存在焦虑和抑郁症状升高的风险，尽管研究表明该人群报告的内化症状存在差异。本研究考虑了焦虑和抑郁症状与口吃之间的关联，以及可能影响这种关联的儿童、家庭和环境因素。
35 名学龄期口吃儿童完成了修订后的儿童焦虑和抑郁量表-短版。我们拟合回归模型，以检验口吃儿童中的欺凌、口吃严重程度、不良心理健康家族史和年龄与焦虑和抑郁症状之间的关联。
发现不良心理健康家族史与焦虑和抑郁评分显著相关。年龄也预测了抑郁评分，年龄较大的儿童报告的评分较高。
口吃儿童的不良心理健康家族史与更高的自我报告内化症状相关。儿童、家庭和环境因素之间的相互作用可能会随年龄而变化，这需要在更大的纵向研究中进一步探索。欺凌与焦虑评分之间的关联表明，反欺凌举措对口吃学龄儿童的心理社会发展具有重要意义。本研究还强调了已知心理健康风险因素（如家族史）对症状报告变异性的贡献。
