The perceived impact of fluency on personalities of adults who stutter: implicit evidence of self-stigma.

PURPOSE: The NEO-FFI is an extensively used instrument that has been used to identify personality differences between those who stutter and matched controls or group norms. The goal of this study was to use the NEO-FFI to implicitly capture and quantify self-stigma related to personality in persons who stutter (PWS). METHODS: Thirty PWS completed the NEO-FFI twice; once as themselves and once while mentalizing (using theory of mind) to respond as though they did not stutter and had never stuttered, thus comparing their true personality to their perceived personality if they were fluent speakers. Compared to their true personalities, PWS perceived their fluent counterparts to be significantly less neurotic and more extroverted. RESULTS: The differences observed are somewhat analogous, though considerably larger in magnitude than personality differences that have previously been reported when comparing PWS to fluent controls or norms. Differences were interpreted to be due to "contrast effects" influencing the comparison. That is, PWS cognitively separated themselves from their fluent counterparts, seeing their true selves in a negative light compared to their fluent counterparts. This "us" vs. "them" separation is considered evidence of self-stigma related to personality in PWS. CONCLUSIONS: The finding that the perceived differences were in the domains of Neuroticism and Extraversion is consistent with prevailing stereotypes about PWS and exemplifies how public stigma can become internalized. Clinical implications are discussed with respect to how similar theory of mind/social comparison exercises can be used in cognitive behavioral therapy to help identify and restructure negative thoughts and beliefs about stuttering.

The Effects of Fluency Enhancing Conditions on Sensorimotor Control of Speech in Typically Fluent Speakers: An EEG Mu Rhythm Study.

Objective: To determine whether changes in sensorimotor control resulting from speaking conditions that induce fluency in people who stutter (PWS) can be measured using electroencephalographic (EEG) mu rhythms in neurotypical speakers. Methods: Non-stuttering (NS) adults spoke in one control condition (solo speaking) and four experimental conditions (choral speech, delayed auditory feedback (DAF), prolonged speech and pseudostuttering). Independent component analysis (ICA) was used to identify sensorimotor µ components from EEG recordings. Time-frequency analyses measured µ-alpha (8-13 Hz) and µ-beta (15-25 Hz) event-related synchronization (ERS) and desynchronization (ERD) during each speech condition. Results: 19/24 participants contributed µ components. Relative to the control condition, the choral and DAF conditions elicited increases in µ-alpha ERD in the right hemisphere. In the pseudostuttering condition, increases in µ-beta ERD were observed in the left hemisphere. No differences were present between the prolonged speech and control conditions. Conclusions: Differences observed in the experimental conditions are thought to reflect sensorimotor control changes. Increases in right hemisphere µ-alpha ERD likely reflect increased reliance on auditory information, including auditory feedback, during the choral and DAF conditions. In the left hemisphere, increases in µ-beta ERD during pseudostuttering may have resulted from the different movement characteristics of this task compared with the solo speaking task. Relationships to findings in stuttering are discussed. Significance: Changes in sensorimotor control related feedforward and feedback control in fluency-enhancing speech manipulations can be measured using time-frequency decompositions of EEG µ rhythms in neurotypical speakers. This quiet, non-invasive, and temporally sensitive technique may be applied to learn more about normal sensorimotor control and fluency enhancement in PWS.

The perceived impact of stuttering on personality as measured by the NEO-FFI-3.

The NEO-FFI has been widely used to demonstrate personality differences between people who stutter (PWS) and those who do not. These differences can be interpreted as indicators of internal sources of disability that contribute to handicaps associated with stuttering. The aim of the current study was to use this same tool to determine the perceived impact of stuttering on personality in order to provide a similar indicator of how external factors may contribute to the stuttering disability. A total of 49 non-stuttering young adults were given the NEO-FFI-3 after watching a video of someone stuttering (moderately to severely) and after watching a video of someone speaking fluently. Participants were asked to answer test items while imagining that they had spoken like the persons in the videos for their entire lives. When asked to assume the stuttering perspective, participants reported themselves to be significantly more neurotic (P < 0.01) and less extraverted (P < 0.01) than when they assumed the perspective of the fluent speaker. The large differences (∼10 points; greater than one standard deviation) in these domains between the fluent and stuttered perspectives are consistent with existing stereotypes about PWS. These differences are greater than and only partially consistent with differences in personality found between PWS and non-stuttering individuals. The findings support the notion that external factors (e.g. listener reactions and stereotypes about PWS) contribute strongly to the manner in which stuttering restricts function and results in handicaps.