Journal of Fluency Disorders 33 (2008) 306–319 Social anxiety and the severity and typography of stuttering in adolescents Kylie Mulcahy a,b , Neville Hennessey a,∗ , Janet Beilby a , Michelle Byrnes a a School of Psychology, Curtin University of Technology, GPO Box U 1987, Perth, Western Australia, 6845, Australia b Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Hospital Avenue, Nedlands, Western Australia, 6009, Australia Received 30 September 2008; received in revised form 30 December 2008; accepted 30 December 2008 Abstract The present study examined the relationship between anxiety, attitude toward daily communication, and stuttering symptomatol- ogy in adolescent stuttering. Adolescents who stuttered (n = 19) showed significantly higher levels of trait, state and social anxiety than fluent speaking controls (n = 18). Trait and state anxiety was significantly associated with difficulty with communication in daily situations for adolescents who stutter, but not for controls. No statistically significant associations were found between anxiety and measures of communication difficulty, and the severity or typography of stuttering surface behaviours. These results highlight some of the psychosocial concomitants of chronic stuttering in adolescence, but challenge the notion that anxiety plays a direct mediating role in stuttering surface behaviours. Rather, the results suggest stuttering is a disorder that features psychosocial conflict regardless of its surface features. Educational objectives: The reader will be able to: (1) summarise findings from previous studies with regards to stuttering and anxiety; (2) identify the sub-types of anxiety that may impact on the individual who stutters; and (3) discuss the clinical implications of the results with regards to working with adolescents who stutter. © 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Keywords: Stuttering; Adolescence; Anxiety; Severity; Typography 1. Introduction Researchers and clinicians have argued for the adoption of a broader conceptualisation of stuttering, which aims not only to delineate the surface behaviours present in an individual’s speech, but also the psychosocial impact stuttering may have on their life (Cooper & Cooper, 1996; Rustin, Cook, & Spence, 1995; Yaruss & Quesal, 2004, 2006). Negative emotions (such as anxiety, fear and guilt) have been attributed to the disorder for over 2000 years (Fitzgerald, Djurdjic, & Maguin, 1992). The role of psychosocial factors in the aetiology of stuttering has also long been proposed. Early writings have linked stuttering to a range of phenomena including suppressed anger, sexual fixations and approach–avoidance conflicts (Bobrick, 1995; Sheehan, 1975). Some theorists maintained that individuals who stutter are psychologically different to those who do not stutter (Adams, 1969), and some of the major research conducted during the 1970s and ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +61 8 9266 2553; fax: +61 8 9266 2464. E-mail address: N.Hennessey@curtin.edu.au (N. Hennessey). 0094-730X/$ – see front matter © 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jfludis.2008.12.002