Comparison of Participation in Online Games and Communication Experiences of School-Age Children Who Do and Do not Stutter: Exploratory Study

Introduction: Online games provide a socializing environment for children aged 8-10 years, but there is a lack of information in the literature about whether children who stutter access online gaming environments as frequently as their non-affected peers and about their interaction habits. This study aimed to investigate the participation frequency of school-age children who do and do not stutter in online games, the speech characteristics during games, and whether they encountered bullying-like behaviors during games. Methods: A total of 91 children who stutter (F/M = 18/73; age range = 8-13) and 116 children who do not stutter (F/M = 60/56; age range 8-13) participated in this study. Children's participation habits in online, chat-based, multiplayer, games were evaluated with web-based questionnaires. Differences between questionnaire responses were analyzed using the significance test for a difference in two proportions. Results: There was no significant difference between the participation rates of children who do and do not stutter in online games (z = 1.46; p = 0.14), their frequency (p > 0.05) and the time they spent in the game (p > 0.05). It was found that those who stutter preferred to use one-word expressions more than their peers who do not stutter (z = 2.03; p = 0.04), and those who stutter had higher rates of not encountering bullying-like behaviors in online games than those who do not stutter (z = 2.2; p = 0.03). Discussion/Conclusion: Children who do and do not stutter show similar participation habits in online, chat-based, multiplayer games with similar frequency, and duration. Speech features that emerge in online games, and whether these games play a role in providing children who stutter a communication environment where the risk of bullying is reduced and fluency is increased may be the subject of future research.

Automated summary

This study investigated the participation habits, speech characteristics, and encounter with bullying-like behaviors in online games among children who do and do not stutter. The results showed that there was no significant difference in the participation rates, frequency, and duration of online gaming between children who stutter and those who do not. Children who stutter were more inclined to use one-word expressions and had higher rates of encountering bullying-like behaviors in online games.