The Effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioral Program in Reducing Stuttering and Social Anxiety among High-School Students

Abstract

The current study aims to assess the effectiveness of the cognitive-behavioral programs in reducing stuttering and social anxiety among high-school students. The researchers used the experimental design. The sample consists of (20) male students who reported the highest score on the stuttering severity scale and social anxiety scale. The sample was divided into experimental and control groups (each group consists of 10 participants). The researcher used the type and severity of stuttering scale developed by Onslow et al (2003), translated by Mahmoud Ismail and the social anxiety scale was prepared by the authors. The results showed that there are statistically significant differences in pre-post and follow-up tests amongst the experimental group in favor of post-test. In addition, the results showed that there are statistically significant differences in stuttering and social anxiety between the experimental and control groups. The experimental group reported lower levels of stuttering and social anxiety compared to the control one. The researcher recommended that it would be much better if the stuttering psychotherapy team includes a specialist in cognitive-behavioral therapy.