The Effects of Treating Comorbid Social Phobia in Adults Who Stutter

口吃是一种令人痛苦和常见的言语障碍，它阻碍了正常的交流，阻碍了职业潜力的实现，并可能在日常交谈中导致终生尴尬和焦虑。在所有口吃的成年人中，大约有一半患有社交恐惧症，这涉及到社交场合的过度焦虑。这是一个重要的观察结果，因为众所周知，对成年人口吃的治疗对某些患者并不是特别有效。在这项研究项目中，我们调查了这一可能性，这是因为现有的治疗方法没有解决这样一个事实，即许多口吃的成年人在日常说话的情况下有一定程度的社交焦虑。在这项实验中，一半的受试者接受标准治疗，另一半受试者接受标准治疗加认知行为疗法，旨在缓解他们的社交焦虑。

Stuttering is a distressing and common speech disorder that prevents normal communication, hinders attainment of occupational potential, and can cause a lifetime of embarrassment and anxiety in everyday speaking situations. Around half of all adults who stutter have a condition called social phobia, which involves excessive anxiety in social situations. This is an important observation, because it is well known that treatments for adults who stutter are not particularly effective for some patients. In this research project, we investigate the possibility that this is because existing treatments have not addressed the fact that many adults who stutter have levels of social anxiety in everyday speaking situations. In this experiment, half the subjects receive a standard treatment and the other half receive a standard treatment plus cognitive behaviour therapy designed to alleviate their social anxiety.