Impact of Intensive Group Therapy for Qubec-French- Speaking Adolescents Who Stutter: Findings of a Retrospective Study

Developmental stuttering is a complex disorder that affects not only speech, but also social interactions and identity formation in many adolescents who stutter. Group therapy appears to be a popular and effective treatment modality for working with this population. Since 1993, the Association des jeunes begues du Quebec [Quebec Association of Young Stutterers] has been offering intensive group therapy during summer camps to young people aged 13 to 17 years. In total, the adolescents receive approximately 50 hours of speech-language pathology therapy, which has been devoted to an adapted form of the Camperdown Program with cognitive behaviour therapy inspired activities since 2011. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of this intensive group therapy on adolescents' speech abilities using a retrospective clinical study design. Sociodemographic and clinical data were drawn from the clinical files of 44 individuals aged 13 to 17 who took part in the group therapy offered by the Association des jeunes begues du Quebec between 2011 and 2019. Descriptive statistics provided a detailed profile of the participants. Nonparametric statistical analyses showed a significant decrease (p < .01) in the percentage of syllables stuttered and in the subjective severity of stuttering after 6 days of intensive therapy. In addition, most of the individuals had begun Stage III of the four-stage Camperdown Program. Further research is needed to investigate the effectiveness of this intervention with adolescents who stutter, particularly with regard to the psychosocial factors associated with stuttering.