TreatPaCS = Treatment for Preschool Age Children Who Stutter

Summary

Treatment for preschool age children who stutter: a randomised, multicentre, non-inferiority parallel group pragmatic trial with Mini-KIDS, the social cognitive behaviour therapy and the Lidcombe Program with 249 children

Conditions

• Stuttering, Developmental

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Lidcombe Program

The LP consists of Stage 1 and Stage 2. Stage 1 aims at reducing the stuttering of the PCWS to (near) zero levels of stuttering. During stage 1, parents learn to provide verbal contingencies during daily, 10-minute practice sessions with their PCWS. During Stage 1, treatment sessions are scheduled weekly. When the child has typical scores of 0 and 1 on the SR-scale with more 0s than 1s per week for three consecutive weeks, and the stuttering is rated as 0 or 1 during the treatment session, the child can proceed to stage 2. The maintenance phase starts when the stuttering is reduced to (near) zero stuttering and parents are able to implement the practice sessions when it is necessary (when stuttering relapses). Treatment sessions to monitor if achieved goals are maintained are scheduled with an interval of 2, 2, 4, 4, 8, 8 and 16 weeks.

BEHAVIORAL

Mini-KIDS

Mini-KIDS for 4-6-year old PCWS consists of four stages: Stage 1 = desensitization, Stage 2 = identification, Stage 3 = modification and Stage 4 = generalization. The program for 2-4-year old child does not include stage 2. SLT and parent(s) are the speech model for the child. They add normal disfluencies and pseudo-stuttering to their speech at first to make sure the child dares to stutter and the child as well as the parent(s) are desensitized for it. Later on in treatment and if necessary, child learn to recognise and alter their stuttering moments. The maintenance phase starts when the child and parent(s) achieved the goals of Stage 4. Usually the stuttering is reduced to (near) zero stuttering. Treatment sessions to monitor if achieved goals are maintained are scheduled with an interval of 2, 2, 4, 4, 8, 8 and 16 weeks.

BEHAVIORAL

Social Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

A parent training is organised for parents with children who stutters who receive SCBT. The parent training exists of 10 one-hour group evening sessions for parents to discuss and offer education topics about what stuttering is, how stuttering looks like, ... The program is delivered in 5 phases and each phase takes as long as is necessary for the PCWS (variable): (1) conditioning speaking activities, (2) cognitive training focused on emotions, (3) cognitive training focused on cognitions, (4) emotional training and (5) skill training. The maintenance phase starts when the child and parent(s) achieved the goals of the 5 phases. During the maintenance sessions, the SLT asks the parent(s) to report about the child and observes the speech of the child.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Universiteit Antwerpen

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Liege

  collaborator OTHER

• Artevelde University of Applied Sciences

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Thomas More University of Applied Sciences

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Sabine Van Eerdenbrugh, Dr · Thomas More

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

24 Months

Max Age

78 Months

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2022-04-01

Primary Completion

2025-04-01

Completion

2025-11-01

Countries

• Belgium

Study Locations