Relationship between sucking behaviors and speech sound disorders in children 3 to 5 years old

Sucking behaviors may have negative effects on occlusion and thus the production of specific speech sounds. The main purpose of this research is the study of the relationship between the behaviors of sucking and speech sound disorders in children 3 to 5 years old.
This research is a retrospective descriptive analysis which 60 children between 3 to 5 years old from kindergartens of Semnan City were assessed. Data collection tools included a self-administered questionnaire and Farsi version of phonological test, which contained 5 subtests of diagnostic, phonetic, phonological, oral motor and instability. Correspondingly, Chi-square test was used for the analysis of data.
There was not any statistically significant relationship between sucking behaviors (breast feeding, bottle feeding, sucking pacifier and sucking finger) and speech sound disorder. There was not also any statistically significant relationship between the duration of these behaviors and speech sound disorders.
The results of this study may reduce some of the parent’s concerns about the negative effects of sucking behaviors on speech mechanism. Further research with a greater sample size and also consideration of some other factors such as the frequency and duration of sucking behaviors during a typical day is necessary for making a better decision about the impact of these behaviors on speech