Analysis of pedigrees from parents of 69 preschool children who stuttered revealed that more male than female relatives ever stuttered but that female subjects who stuttered had more female relatives who ever stuttered than did male subjects. Segregation analyses suggest that transmission of a single major genetic locus increases the liability to…

Interviews with parents of 87 preschool children within a year of a stuttering diagnosis found that onset tended to occur earlier than was previously thought and was sudden and/or severe in many cases; about twice as many boys as girls stuttered; and there was a positive relationship between severe stuttering and sudden onset. (DB)

This study of 20 stuttering and 20 nonstuttering preschool children found that stuttering children scored lower on 7 out of 8 language measures, with no significant intergroup differences on articulation proficiency or fluency. There were few significant correlations between measures of stuttering rate, speaking rate, and language performance…