Associations between social anxiety, physiological reactivity, and speech disfluencies in autistic young adults and controls.

Researchers studied how social anxiety and stress responses affect speech difficulties in autistic young adults compared to non-autistic peers. They found that while both groups experienced similar levels of social anxiety overall, autistic participants had different patterns in specific social situations. Importantly, social anxiety and stress responses didn't predict speech difficulties in autistic people the way they did in non-autistic people, suggesting autism may involve different mechanisms affecting speech production.

This study examined relationships between social anxiety, physiological arousal during speaking, and speech disfluencies in 32 autistic young adults and 35 controls. Participants viewed videos then narrated about them while physiological arousal was measured via electrodermal activity. Speech samples were analyzed for disfluency types and stuttering severity. While both groups showed similar overall social anxiety levels, autistic participants differed on specific subscales including social interaction and avoidance behaviors.

Both groups demonstrated increased physiological arousal during speaking versus viewing. Notably, no associations were found between social anxiety, physiological reactivity, and speech difficulties in the autistic group, whereas controls showed negative correlations between physiological arousal and disfluencies.

Findings suggest traditional anxiety-focused interventions for speech difficulties may be less relevant for autistic individuals. Clinicians should consider autism-specific factors when assessing speech and communication challenges rather than relying on neurotypical models of anxiety-speech relationships.

Small sample sizes (32 autistic, 35 controls) limit generalizability. Single speaking task may not capture full range of speech difficulties. Cross-sectional design prevents causal inferences. Limited to young adults only.

The aim of this study was to examine possible associations of social anxiety (SA) and speaking-related physiological reactivity with the frequencies of a) total disfluencies, b) typical disfluencies, and c) stuttering-like disfluencies, as well as d) stuttering-severity in autistic young adults and controls. Thirty-two autistic young adults and 35 controls participated in this study. Participants were presented with video clips (viewing condition) and were then asked to talk about the videos (narrating condition). SA was measured by the self-report Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory (SPAI).

Speaking-related physiological reactivity was measured by the electrodermal activity (EDA), an index of emotional arousal. The speech samples from the narrating condition were analyzed for type and frequency of speech disfluencies and used for determining the stuttering severity. SA and speaking-related physiological reactivity were compared between the groups. Correlation between SA, physiological reactivity, disfluency frequencies, and stuttering severity were tested separately for both groups.

No between-group differences were found in the overall SA, yet differences were found in SPAI subscales of social interaction, group interaction, and avoidance, as well as in agoraphobia. Both groups had higher physiological arousal in narrating condition in comparison to the video viewing condition, yet there was no between-group difference in the reactivity. No associations were found between SPAI measures, physiological reactivity, disfluency frequencies, and stuttering severity in the autistic group. In the control group, a negative association was found between physiological reactivity and total and typical disfluency frequencies.

SA or speaking-related physiological reactivity were not associated with disfluency frequencies or stuttering severity in autistic persons. Negative association between physiological reactivity and disfluency frequencies found in the control group may indicate that the physiological arousal may impact the speech production process by reducing the overt disfluencies.