Stuttering, Temperament, and Anxiety: Data From a Community Cohort Ages 2–4 Years

Abstract

On the basis of parents' responses to the Short Temperament Scale, preschoolers who stutter did not have innately different temperaments from control children on those temperament traits measured from ages 2 to 4 years. They showed no signs of temperament precursors of anxiety before stuttering onset or shortly after. Results suggest, at most, that temperament is influenced somehow during the period after stuttering onset but with a waning developmental influence subsequently.