Sarah Horton presenting “Executive function, stuttering severity, and subjective impact of stuttering in adults” at the Graduate Colloquium

Sarah Horton is a third year PhD student in Speech Pathology at The University of Melbourne and a certified practising speech pathologist. She is also a person who stutters and is an active member of Australia’s stuttering community.  Her study presentation, “Executive function, stuttering severity, and subjective impact of stuttering.”, recently received the Travers Reid award, which was open to any student presenting at the 13th Oxford Dysfluency Conference and recognises the contribution of research to the lives of children and young people who stutter.

Executive function (EF) refers to cognitive processes essential for flexible, goal-directed behaviour. EF difficulties underlie symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Stuttering is associated with EF difficulties in children, as well as elevated symptoms of ADHD. The literature on EF in adults who stutter is sparse, however recent studies report higher levels of ADHD characteristics. Here Sarah’s research investigated whether self-reported EF scores predicted a) stuttering persistence or recovery, b) stuttering severity, and c) subjective impact of stuttering, and explore any associations between EF, stuttering, and other co-occurring conditions.

Sarah’s research demonstrated that while overall rates of ADHD diagnoses were not higher than the general population, 44% of participants EF scores indicated significant impacts on daily functioning, with more severe EF difficulties not predicting stuttering presence or severity but did predict a greater subjective impact of stuttering. Findings highlight the need to consider how EF and co-occurring diagnoses, such as anxiety, impact individuals' ability to access and adhere to stuttering interventions that are traditionally cognitively taxing.