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

Abstract

<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> 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 (CWS) access online gaming environments as frequently as their nonaffected peers and about their interaction habits. This study aimed to investigate the participation frequency of school-age CWS and children who do not stutter (CWNS) in online games, the speech characteristics during games, and whether they encountered bullying-like behaviors during games. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> A total of 91 CWS (F/M = 18/73; age range = 8–13) and 116 CWNS (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. <b><i>Results:</i></b> There was no significant difference between the participation rates of CWS and CWNS in online games (<i>z</i> = 1.46; <i>p</i> = 0.14), their frequency (<i>p</i> &gt; 0.05), and the time they spent in the game (<i>p</i> &gt; 0.05). It was found that those who stutter preferred to use one-word expressions more than their peers who do not stutter (<i>z</i> = 2.03; <i>p</i> = 0.04), and those who stutter had higher rates of not encountering bullying-like behaviors in online games than those who do not stutter (<i>z</i> = 2.2; <i>p</i> = 0.03). <b><i>Discussion/Conclusion:</i></b> CWS and CWNS 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 CWS with a communication environment where the risk of bullying is reduced and fluency is increased may be the subject of future research.