Journal of Fluency Disorders 40 (2014) 44–57 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Fluency Disorders Anxiety and speaking in people who stutter: An investigation using the emotional Stroop task Neville W. Hennessey ∗ , Esther Dourado, Janet M. Beilby School of Psychology and Speech Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, GPO Box U 1987, Perth, Western Australia 6845, Australia a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 3 August 2013 Received in revised form 29 October 2013 Accepted 3 November 2013 Available online 19 November 2013 Keywords: Stuttering Anxiety Emotional Stroop Attentional bias Speech motor control a b s t r a c t People with anxiety disorders show an attentional bias towards threat or negative emo- tion words. This exploratory study examined whether people who stutter (PWS), who can be anxious when speaking, show similar bias and whether reactions to threat words also influence speech motor planning and execution. Comparisons were made between 31 PWS and 31 fluent controls in a modified emotional Stroop task where, depending on a visual cue, participants named the colour of threat and neutral words at either a normal or fast articulation rate. In a manual version of the same task participants pressed the correspond- ing colour button with either a long or short duration. PWS but not controls were slower to respond to threat words than neutral words, however, this emotionality effect was only evident for verbal responding. Emotionality did not interact with speech rate, but the size of the emotionality effect among PWS did correlate with frequency of stuttering. Results suggest PWS show an attentional bias to threat words similar to that found in people with anxiety disorder. In addition, this bias appears to be contingent on engaging the speech pro- duction system as a response modality. No evidence was found to indicate that emotional reactivity during the Stroop task constrains or destabilises, perhaps via arousal mecha- nisms, speech motor adjustment or execution for PWS. Educational objectives: The reader will be able to: (1) explain the importance of cognitive aspects of anxiety, such as attentional biases, in the possible cause and/or maintenance of anxiety in people who stutter, (2) explain how the emotional Stroop task can be used as a measure of attentional bias to threat information, and (3) evaluate the findings with respect to the relationship between attentional bias to threat information and speech production in people who stutter. © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction There is more to stuttering than disfluencies in speech production. For example, research has shown increased psy- chosocial burden and negative impact of stuttering on quality of life (e.g., Beilby, Byrnes, Meagher, & Yaruss, 2013; Craig, Blumgart, & Tran, 2009; Koedoot, Bouwmans, Franken, & Stolk, 2011). One area that has received considerable attention over recent years is the relationship between stuttering and anxiety-related problems. Trait anxiety refers to the general disposition in a person to experience feelings of anxiousness, nervousness, or dread. Studies using self-report instruments such as the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI, Spielberger, Gorsuch, Lushene, Vagg, & Jacobs, 1983) have shown ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +61 8 9266 2553; fax: +61 8 9266 2464. E-mail addresses: N.Hennessey@curtin.edu.au (N.W. Hennessey), estherd@rockybay.org.au (E. Dourado), J.Beilby@curtin.edu.au (J.M. Beilby). 0094-730X/$ – see front matter © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jfludis.2013.11.001