Emotional Reactivity, Regulation & Childhood Stuttering

描述（由申请人提供）：目前的申请人提出，口吃儿童的情绪反应和他们试图调节这些反应有助于口吃的恶化和维持。申请人的儿童口吃模型表明，微妙的和不那么微妙的语言、运动和交流困难可能会引发幼儿口吃。随后，孩子对口吃的反应会变得更加兴奋和反应，这些反应可能会也可能不会受到孩子的调节或应对技能的调节。我们的模型预测，口吃儿童的情绪反应和调节/应对水平与正常流利的同龄人不同。我们还预测，情绪反应和调节的变化将与口吃的变化有关。我们将对3- 5岁的口吃儿童和不口吃儿童进行以下假设：(1)在父母和训练有素的考官评定的情绪反应和调节能力方面，口吃儿童和不口吃儿童之间是否存在自然发生的差异（建议研究1）？(2)在结构化的实验室情境中，口吃儿童和非口吃儿童在情绪反应和调节方面是否存在差异（建议研究2）？(3)当面对唤起性的环境刺激时，口吃儿童和非口吃儿童的情绪反应是否不同？反应是否与口吃和其他不流畅有关（建议研究3）？(4)情绪调节的实验差异是否会影响口吃儿童的口吃（拟研究4）？这些研究是将情感发展和行为与儿童在面对变化或挑战时口吃联系起来的初步尝试。这些跨学科的研究——包括发展心理学和语言病理学之间的合作——应该有助于确定一些口吃儿童是否无法调节痛苦或调节他们的反应，并阐明情绪反应、调节和儿童口吃之间的联系。研究结果将在儿童情感发展的更广泛背景下为儿童口吃的研究奠定基础，并将未来的研究重点放在儿童口吃的诊断和治疗方案上。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The current applicants propose that the emotional reactions of children who stutter and their attempts to regulate these reactions contribute to the exacerbation and maintenance of their stuttering. The applicants' model of childhood stuttering suggests that subtle and not-so-subtle linguistic, motoric and communicative difficulties may initiate stuttering in a young child. Subsequently, the child reacts to instances of stuttering by becoming more aroused and reactive, and these reactions may or may not be modulated by the child's regulatory or coping skills. Our model predicts that levels of emotional reactivity and regulation/coping of children who stutter will differ from those of their normally fluent peers. We also predict that changes in emotional reactivity and regulation will be associated with changes in stuttering. We will examine the following hypotheses for 3- to 5-year-old children who do and do not stutter: (1) Are there naturally-occurring differences between children who do and do not stutter with regard to emotional reactivity and regulation as rated by parents and trained examiners (Proposed Study 1)? (2) Are there differences between children who do and do not stutter with regard to emotional reactivity and regulation during structured laboratory situations (Proposed Study 2)? (3) Does emotional reactivity differ between children who do and do not stutter when presented with arousing environmental stimulation and is reactivity associated with stuttering and other disfluencies (Proposed Study 3)? (4) Do experimental variations in emotion regulation influence stuttering for children who stutter (Proposed Study 4)? These studies are an initial attempt to relate emotional development and behavior to childhood stuttering when children are confronted with change or challenge. These interdisciplinary investigations - involving collaboration between developmental psychology and speech-language pathology- should help determine whether some children who stutter are less able to regulate distress or modulate their reactivity and clarify the link between emotional reactivity, regulation, and childhood stuttering. Results will ground the study of childhood stuttering within the broader context of childhood emotional development, and focus future research on issues that inform diagnostic and treatment protocols for childhood stuttering.