Factors predicting satisfaction with communication in daily lives of adults who stutter: An experience sampling study

Abstract

Purpose: Improving satisfaction with communication (SC) is one of the issues in treatments of adults who stutter (AWS). SC can be influenced by self-rated stuttering severity (SS), negative/positive emotions, and emotion regulations and they are variable in daily communications. The present study aimed to explore factors predicting SC in daily communications of AWS, considering their variabilities and speaking contexts.Method: Twenty-seven AWS were surveyed by trait questionnaires and then by experience sampling method (ESM) seven times per day for 2 weeks, reporting speaking contexts and subjective experiences, including SC, SS, negative/positive emotions, and emotion regulations. Intra- and inter- individual variabilities and relationships of the variables were investigated.Results: Speaking contexts were summarized by unofficial/official communications. SC, SS, and emotion regulations in unofficial communications were less variable and SC was more strongly related to trait questionnaires. Items of the ESM loaded on three latent factors in each communication type, including (1) negative emotion, (2) stuttering and associated reactions (including SS and stuttering-and anxiety-related behaviors and cognitions), and (3) positive emotion and attending to communication. SC was more strongly associated with (3) than (2) in unofficial communications while the opposite trend was found in official communications.Conclusions: SC, SS, and stuttering-and anxiety-related emotion regulations in unofficial communications are more trait-like. Not only negative emotion regulations but also positive emotion regulations should be treated to improve SC in AWS, considering speaking contexts.