Voice shaming: when speech becomes a target. Preliminary insights among youth who stutter

Introduction Children and adolescents who stutter experience bullying rates of 43%–81% internationally compared to 11%–17% in typical peers, yet no Italian data exist on stuttering-related victimization. This study introduces “Voice Shaming” as a distinct construct among bullying behaviors which targets specifically speech characteristics and examines its prevalence among Italian youth who stutter. Methods A prospective observational study surveyed 110 consecutive children and adolescents who stutter (ages 7–16; 79.1% male) and their parents from a specialized center. Two expert-developed questionnaires assessed Voice Shaming experiences, contexts, and impacts. Descriptive statistics with 95% confidence intervals (CI) characterized prevalence patterns. Results Voice Shaming affected 70.9% (95% CI: 61.8%–78.6%) of participants by self-report and 66.4% (95% CI: 57.1%–74.5%) by parent-report, typically beginning at age 9. Voice mimicry was the predominant manifestation (82.1%), occurring primarily in schools (80.8%) by known peers (92.3%). Despite predominantly rare occurrences (71.8% reporting 1–2 lifetime episodes), 39.7% of affected participants modified speech to avoid mockery, 29.5% avoided activities, and parents observed mood disturbances in 69.9%. While 97.3% of parents implemented support strategies, schools adopted specific measures in only 19.2% of cases. Discussion Taken together, Voice Shaming affects the majority of children and adolescents who stutter in this clinical sample, representing communication-based discrimination with notable psychological impact despite infrequent episodes. Voice Shaming is characterized by its qualitative impact on victims, the psychological significance of targeting speech characteristics, rather than by frequency requirements, distinguishing it from traditional bullying definitions that require repetitive patterns as a defining feature. Findings establish Voice Shaming as a distinct clinical concern requiring targeted assessment and intervention in clinical and educational settings.