Accepting things as they are: The effect of mindfulness, decentering and self-compassion on the experience of stuttering

Purpose: Mindfulness is defined as intentional present-moment non-judgmental awareness. Previous studies have proposed that mindfulness practice might benefit people who stutter. The current study aims to test the relationship between levels of dispositional mindfulness in people who stutter and the negative impact of stuttering, and whether self-compassion and the meta-cognitive ability of shifting from subjective to objective perspective (decentering) mediate this relation. It is hypothesized that greater dispositional mindfulness allows the person who stutters to shift to an objective and compassionate perspective and react with less judgment to moments of stuttering, attenuating the negative impact of stuttering on experience. Method: An online survey was administered to adults who stutter (N=186) to assess their levels of dispositional mindfulness, self-compassion, decentering capability, and overall stuttering experience. The relation between the constructs was assessed via Pearson correlation and mediation analysis. Results: One hundred and fifty adults completed the full survey. The adverse effect of stuttering was correlated negatively with dispositional mindfulness, such that individuals with greater self-reported dispositional mindfulness also reported fewer negative effects of stuttering on their lives. This relation was found to be fully mediated by levels of decentering and self-compassion. Decentering partially mediated the relationship between mindfulness and self-compassion, while self-compassion alone was found to directly affect the experience of stuttering. Conclusion: People who stutter with greater dispositional mindfulness have an increased ability to view their experience in a more objective and compassionate way, and this attenuates the adverse effects of stuttering on their subjective experience. As these capabilities can be cultivated through practice, it substantiates the potential benefits of mindfulness practice for people who stutter.