# Social cognition and communication attitude in childhood stuttering

> **NIH NIH F31** · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN · 2022 · $32,599

## Abstract

Project Summary
Stuttering is a complex, neurodevelopmental communication disorder that originates in early childhood during
a period of significant speech, language, and social cognitive development (2-6 years). In addition to
disruptions in speech fluency, persons who stutter report psychosocial consequences of the disorder, including
negative attitudes toward communication and increased rates of anxiety and depression. Children as young as
two years old are acutely aware of and negatively impacted by their stuttering. Preschool-age children who
stutter report significantly more negative communication attitudes than their typically fluent peers, with group
differences increasing in kindergarten and first grade. Research examining the nature and progression of
psychosocial and emotional contributions to stuttering in the 5-10% of young children who stutter in the United
States is limited. Two studies explored whether stuttering severity, age, and time since onset contribute to
communication attitude, with results indicating none of these predictors influence negative communication
attitude in young children. Parent perception of their child influences a child’s self-concept during early
childhood (ages 3-6 years), when children develop cognitive and affective perspective taking skills. If a parent
reports discomfort with their child’s stuttering diagnosis and perceives that their child views their
communication less positively, this may uniquely influence the child’s report of their communication attitude.
We hypothesize parent perception of their child’s communication attitude and the child’s cognitive and
affective perspective taking skills influence a child’s reported communication attitude. To test this
hypothesis, we propose three specific aims. In Aim 1, we assess parent perception of their child’s
communication attitude in young children who do and do not stutter. In this aim, we use a standardized
self-report scale that has demonstrated differences in communication attitudes between children who do and
do not stutter and an adapted version of this scale to measure parent perception. In Aims 2 and 3, we examine
the influence of cognitive and affective perspective taking on parent-child communication attitude
agreement for children who do and do not stutter. These aims incorporate experimental measures of
cognitive perspective taking (the ability to make inferences about others’ thoughts) and affective perspective
taking (the ability to make inferences about others’ feelings). All aims include relevant moderators that may
uniquely contribute to the influence of parent perception or perspective taking on communication attitude.
Analyses will include linear regression, causal inference, and non-parametric methods.
This proposal is responsive to NIDCD’s priority areas 2 and 3 and therefore is relevant to public health, as the
intended aims will 1) identify cognitive and environmental factors associated with negative communication
attitudes ob...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10438581
- **Project number:** 5F31DC019859-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
- **Principal Investigator:** Katherine L Winters
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $32,599
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-09-01 → 2023-05-20

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10438581

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10438581, Social cognition and communication attitude in childhood stuttering (5F31DC019859-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10438581. Licensed CC0.

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