CORTISOL RESPONSES IN ADULTS WHO STUTTER - COPING PREFERENCES AND APPREHENSION ABOUT COMMUNICATION

This study evaluated the moderating effects of individuals' coping sty les for physiological reactivity to a stressor in the laboratory in 11 persons who stutterrd and 11 persons who did not stutter. Reactivity was defined as changes in levels of salivary cortisol after a stressor . Subjects were grouped according to scores on apprehension about comm unication. individuals scoring high on Communication Apprehension show ed significantly elevated cortisol levels compared to those scoring lo w on Communication Apprehension. Stuttering subjects who scored high o n Communication Apprehension and used emotion-based coping strategies showed the largest elevations in cortisol levels.