Emotional Diathesis, Emotional Stress, and Childhood Stuttering Table of Contents

ii This dissertation is dedicated to … My husband, Heechun, who encouraged and supported my research so that I could achieve my dream, My son, Ray who had to learn to do without a mother's care from a very tender age while I was working on this dissertation, My parents, Jaewook Choi and Haekyung Park who have offered me unconditional love and support throughout, and My advisor Dr.Edward G. Conture who has always believed in my ability. First, I would like to express my deep and sincere gratitude to my advisor, Dr. Edward G. Conture, for his continuous and patient guidance and encouragement throughout my pre-doctoral training. I am also especially thankful to Dr. Tedra Walden for her insightful and thought-provoking comments as well as her constructive criticisms at different stages of this study. I am also grateful to each of my other committee members, Drs. Michael de Riesthal and Ellen Kelly, for their scholarly insight and guidance towards the development of this study. I would also like to sincerely thank Drs. Christopher Preacher and Warren Lambert and Mr. Hanjoe Kim for their substantial assistance with the statistical analyses of this study, Dr. Robin Jones for his guidance toward physiological measurement, and Stephen Groner for inter-judge reliability. Furthermore, I extend my appreciation to the many children and their families who participated in this study without whom this research would not have been possible. Finally, I would like to thank my family and friends for their unconditional love, support and encouragement. Without their love and support, I would not have come this far.