Some Factors affecting the Prevalence of Stammering

Stammering occurs throughout the civilized world and there has been no lack of theories to account for it. Most theories, and they have been well reviewed by Hahn (1943) and Diehl (1958), assume that there is only one important causative factor whether it be organic or psychological. The organic theories implicate cerebral dominance (Travis, 1931; Orton, 1937) supported by electro-encephalogram findings (Jasper, 1937) and genetic studies (Jameson, 1955). Biochemical investigations including endocrine studies have been unproductive (Hill, 1944). Psychoanalysts (Coriat, 1943) have viewed stammering as a specific form of neurosis attributable to pre-genital libidinal fixation. Despert (1943) and West (1943) suggest that an abnormal maternal attitude is one of the most important causes. Johnson and his associates (1959) consider that physical and hereditary factors are of only minor aetiological significance ; they have produced a multi-dimensional theory in which stammering is seen as learned behaviour arising early in life when the neuromuscular speech patterns are developing. According to Johnson and others (1959), Despert (1943), and West (1943), certain parental characteristics are important in the aetiology of stammering in children. They found that the mothers of stammering children had higher and more strict standards of behaviour for their children and were more dissatisfied with their actual behaviour. The mothers seemed more discontented, more striving, more perfectionistic, and more concerned about what their neighbours thought of them than were the parents of control groups. They demanded higher standards of speech than did other parents. The striving for excellence and the associated feelings of dissatisfaction or failure were found to be more prominent in the mothers than in the fathers of stammering children, the fathers tending to adopt a more conciliatory role. If psychological factors are important in causing stammering, the prevalence might be expected to vary in different sub-cultures; moreover, any observed differences in prevalence might be related to social and psychological differences between tammerers and their families on the one hand, and non-stammerers and their families on the other. The purpose of the present study is to explore these possibilities. Previous clinical observations had been made by the authors on adults referred to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh for the treatment of stammering. The stammerers, who were mostly males, developed anxiety and stammered more in situations in which they felt their social status was challenged. They disclosed characteristic attitudes which apparently arose out of particular family relationships. Similar observations had been reported by West (1943), Despert (1943), and Johnson and others (1959). The mothers of the patients were often socially insecure with high social aspirations, over-perfectionistic, and anxious about discipline. These characteristics were clearly displayed in relationships with their children. The fathers generally assumed a more passive role and tended to avoid conflict by acquiescing in the demands of the mothers. We endeavoured to repeat these clinical observations in a whole population

Developmental psychology · Etiology · Excellence · Feeling · Psychiatry · Clinical Psychology · Medicine · Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism · Psychology · Social Psychology

• Reading, Writing and Speech Problems in Children

  Wilmot F Schneider•American Journal of Public Health…•1938

  Add to list

• Electrical signs of cortical activity

  Herbert H Jasper•Psychological Bulletin•1937

  Add to list

• Stuttering

  J Louise Despert•American Journal of Orthopsychiatry•1943

  Add to list