Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness of behavioral interventions designed to treat stuttering in children.
Method: Studies were included for review if (a) the treatment was a behavioral intervention, (b) participants were between 2 and 18 years old, (c) the design was an experimental or quasi-experimental group design, and (d) the reported outcome measure assessed stuttering. An electronic search of 8 databases yielded a total of 9 studies, representing 327 treated participants across 7 different intervention types. Data were extracted for participant, treatment, and outcome characteristics as well as for methodological quality.
Results: An analysis of the treatment effects yielded significant positive effects approaching 1 SD when compared with a nontreatment control group. No significant differences emerged for studies comparing 2 different treatments.
Conclusion: Conclusions drawn from the extant research suggest that data to support the efficacy of behavioral intervention in children exists for a limited number of intervention strategies, based on a meager number of methodologically acceptable studies.
Keywords: children; efficacy; stuttering; systematic review.