Abstract
Objectives
Previous studies suggest a link between voice disorders and personality traits. However,
nearly nothing is known about the relationship between personality and voice parameters
in healthy children. The present study investigated associations between children's
personality and the intensity and frequency of their speaking voice.
Study Design
This is a cross-sectional analysis.
Methods
The study participants included 871 German children aged from 7 to 14 who had not
yet experienced voice change in puberty. Within the framework of the LIFE Child study,
all participants were asked to perform a speaking-voice task at four different intensity
levels (quietest, conversational, presentation, and shouting voice). Associations
of fundamental frequency and voice intensity with children's personality and behavioral
strengths and difficulties (assessed using parent-reported questionnaires) were estimated
using multiple linear regression analyses.
Results
With respect to children's personality, the analyses revealed significant positive
associations between speaking-voice intensity and extraversion (eg, for the conversational
voice, β = 0.16, P < 0.001) as well as significant negative associations between voice intensity and
emotional stability (eg, for the shouting voice, β = −0.15, P = 0.004) and conscientiousness (for the shouting voice, β = −0.10, P = 0.033). Regarding behavioral strengths and difficulties, we observed significant
positive associations between voice intensity and peer-relationship problems (eg,
for the conversational voice, β = 0.14, P = 0.001) and prosocial behavior (for the conversational voice, β = 0.11, P = 0.015). In contrast, no significant association was found between speaking fundamental
frequency and personality or behavioral difficulties/strengths.
Conclusions
In children, associations exist between a child's speaking-voice intensity and his
or her personality, especially extraversion and emotional stability, and behavioral
characteristics.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: October 31, 2018
Accepted:
September 28,
2018
Footnotes
This publication was supported by LIFE – Leipzig Research Center for Civilization Diseases, University of Leipzig. LIFE is funded by means of the European Union, by means of the European Social Fund (ESF), by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), and by means of the Free State of Saxony within the framework of the excellence initiative.
Identification
Copyright
© 2018 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
