The causes of developmental stuttering, a neurodevelopmental communicative disorder, have not been elucidated to date. Neuroimaging studies suggest that atypical cerebral laterality could be one of such causal factors. Moreover, handedness, a behavioural index for cerebral laterality, has been linked to stuttering and recovery from it. However, findings are conflicting, possibly due to sample selection procedures, which typically rely on self-reported stuttering, and to the fact that handedness is typically assessed with regards to its direction rather than degree. We investigated the possible relationship between handedness and stuttering. This is the first study where children who stutter (CWS) were selected using clinical criteria as well as speech samples and where a non-Western population was studied. Findings from 83 CWS aged 3-9 years (mean = 6.43, SD = 1.84) and 90 age- and sex-matched children who do not stutter (mean = 6.45, SD = 1.71) revealed no differences in their hand preference scores as evaluated by parent-completed Edinburgh Handedness Inventory, for both direction and degree. The severity of stuttering was not found to correlate with the degree of handedness. We suggest that parents and professionals not treat left- or mixed-hand preference as a reason for concern with regards to stuttering.

中文翻译：

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通过手部偏向测量和发育性口吃评估大脑的偏侧性。

迄今为止，尚未阐明发展性口吃的原因，这是一种神经发育性交际障碍。神经影像学研究表明，非典型的大脑侧卧可能是这种原因的因素之一。而且，惯用性是大脑侧卧的行为指标，与口吃和从中恢复有关。但是，发现可能有冲突，这可能是由于样本选择程序（通常依靠自我报告的口吃）以及通常对顺手性（而非方向）进行评估这一事实。我们研究了惯用性和口吃之间的可能关系。这是第一项使用临床标准以及语音样本选择口吃儿童（CWS）的研究，并且研究了非西方人群。从83名3-9岁的CWS（平均值= 6.43，SD = 1.84）和90名年龄和性别匹配的未结巴的儿童（平均值= 6.45，SD = 1.71）中发现，他们的手偏爱得分没有差异由家长填写的爱丁堡习惯清单，包括方向和程度。未发现口吃的严重程度与惯性程度相关。我们建议父母和专业人士不要将惯用左手或惯用左手作为对口吃的担忧原因。