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Purpose: Behavior and temperament (e.g., emotional reactivity, self-regulation) have been considered relevant to stuttering and its developmental course, but the direction of this relation is still unknown. Knowledge of behavior difficulties and temperament in childhood stuttering can improve screening and intervention. The current study examined both directions of the relationship between stuttering and behavior difficulties and temperament and between persistent stuttering and behavior difficulties and temperament across childhood. Method: This study was embedded in the Generation R Study, a population-based cohort from fetal life onward in the Netherlands. We analyzed data from 145 children (4.2%) with a history of stuttering (118 recovered, 27 persistent) and 3,276 children without such a history. Behavior and temperament were repeatedly assessed using parental questionnaires (Child Behavior Checklist) and Infant/Child Behavior Questionnaire between 0.5 and 9 years of age. Multiple logistic and linear regression analyses were performed. Results: Six-month-old children who were less able to "recover from distress," indicating poor self-regulation, were more likely to develop persistent stuttering later in childhood (odds ratio = 2.05, 95% confidence interval (CI) [1.03, 4.05], p = 0.04). In the opposite direction, children with a history of stuttering showed more negative affectivity ([beta] = 0.19, 95% CI [0.02, 0.37], p = 0.03) at 6 years of age than children without such a history. Stuttering persistence was associated with increased internalizing behaviors ([beta] = 0.38, 95% CI [0.03, 0.74], p = 0.04) and higher emotional reactivity ([beta] = 0.53, 95% CI [0.09, 0.89], p = 0.02) at the age of 9 years. Conclusions: Behavior and temperament were associated with stuttering persistency--seemingly as both predictor and consequence--but did not predict a history of stuttering. We suggest that children who persist in stuttering should be carefully monitored, and if behavioral or temperamental problems appear, treatment for these problems should be offered.

Stuttering is a neurodevelopmental disorder affecting 5-8 % of preschool-age children, continuing into adulthood in 1 % of the population. The neural mechanisms underlying persistence and recovery from stuttering remain unclear and little information exists on neurodevelopmental anomalies in children who stutter (CWS) during preschool age, when stuttering symptoms typically first emerge. Here we present findings from the largest longitudinal study of childhood stuttering to date, comparing children with persistent stuttering (pCWS) and those who later recovered from stuttering (rCWS) with age-matched fluent peers, to examine the developmental trajectories of both gray matter volume (GMV) and white matter volume (WMV) using voxel-based morphometry. A total of 470 MRI scans were analyzed from 95 CWS (72 pCWS and 23 rCWS) and 95 fluent peers between 3 and 12 years of age. We examined overall group and group by age interactions in GMV and WMV in preschool age (3-5 years old) and school age (6-12 years old) CWS and controls, controlling for sex, IQ, intracranial volume, and socioeconomic status. The results provide broad support for a possible basal ganglia-thalamocortical (BGTC) network deficit starting in the earliest phases of the disorder and point to normalization or compensation of earlier occurring structural changes associated with stuttering recovery., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: To examine whether adolescents exceed recommended noise exposure limits when using personal listening devices (PLDs) and to investigate the relationship between objectively measured PLD use and hearing thresholds., Study Design: Cross-sectional study., Setting: This study was embedded within an ongoing prospective birth cohort study in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Data were collected from May 2017 to September 2019., Methods: A smartphone application was developed to measure daily noise exposure from PLDs. Listening habits were monitored among 314 adolescents with a mean age of 13 years 7 months (SD, 5 months), of whom 51.6% were male. Hearing acuity was measured by pure tone audiometry, and tympanometry was performed in both ears., Results: Within the study group, 2.2% adolescents exceeded the recommended daily noise dose (85 dBA as an 8-hour time-weighted average) among all days when the application was active and 9.9% when among only the listening days. No significant correlation was found between the daily noise dose from PLDs and pure tone thresholds., Conclusions: The majority of adolescents exhibited listening habits that could be considered safe. As noise-induced hearing loss develops slowly over time, it could be that the effects of PLD use on hearing are not evident yet in this young population with a relatively short duration of PLD use.

Purpose: The first purpose was to define the recovery rate in children who stutter in a clinical sample, adding self-report to validate recovery status. The second purpose was to explore whether children who were judged to be recovered showed subjective experiences that might be interpreted as coping behaviors used to control speech fluency., Methods: In this longitudinal study, preschool-age children whose parents consulted a speech-language pathologist about stuttering were followed for 9 years. At follow-up, children's self-reports on stuttering were reported, as well as traditional criteria on recovery (parental and expert judgment). The Overall Assessment of the Speaker's Experience of Stuttering (OASES) was used to collect children's experiences with speaking., Results: Eleven of the 15 children (73%) were judged by parents and clinicians to have recovered from stuttering. However, when considering children's self-reports, 9 children (60%) might be considered to have recovered. In addition, 3 children who were judged to be recovered reported experiences with speaking that were uncommon, even compared to children who continued to stutter., Conclusion: In this exploratory study of a clinical population, the recovery rate in children that received treatment for stuttering appeared to be comparable to a non-clinical population. Considering self-reports can improve validity of assessing the "recovery rate". Moreover, recovery in children may not be effortless; instead, it may be the result of conscious or unconscious coping behavior. Future studies are recommended to consider self-reports to improve validity of recovery, and to document experiences with speaking to explore effortless, spontaneous fluency versus controlled fluency., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objectives/hypothesis: To investigate hearing capabilities and self-reported benefits of simultaneous bilateral cochlear implantation (BiCI) compared with unilateral cochlear implantation (UCI) after a 2-year follow-up and to evaluate the learning effect of cochlear implantees over time., Study Design: Multicenter randomized controlled trial., Methods: Thirty-eight postlingually deafened adults were included in this study and randomly allocated to either UCI or simultaneous BiCI. Our primary outcome was speech intelligibility in noise, with speech and noise coming from straight ahead (Utrecht-Sentence Test with Adaptive Randomized Roving levels). Secondary outcomes were speech intelligibility in noise with spatially separated sources, speech intelligibility in silence (Dutch phoneme test), localization capabilities and self-reported benefits assessed with different quality of hearing and quality of life (QoL) questionnaires. This article describes the results after 2 years of follow-up., Results: We found comparable results for the UCI and simultaneous BiCI group, when speech and noise were both presented from straight ahead. Patients in the BiCI group performed significantly better than patients in the UCI group, when speech and noise came from different directions (P = .01). Furthermore, their localization capabilities were significantly better. These results were consistent with patients' self-reported hearing capabilities, but not with the questionnaires regarding QoL. We found no significant differences on any of the subjective and objective reported outcomes between the 1-year and 2-year follow-up., Conclusions: This study demonstrates important benefits of simultaneous BiCI compared with UCI that remain stable over time. Bilaterally implanted patients benefit significantly in difficult everyday listening situations such as when speech and noise come from different directions. Furthermore, bilaterally implanted patients are able to localize sounds, which is impossible for unilaterally implanted patients., Level of Evidence: 1b Laryngoscope, 127:1161-1168, 2017., (© 2016 The American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc.)