Evaluation of children with selective mutism and social phobia: a comparison of psychological and psychophysiological arousal

Behavior Modification
Brennan J YoungDeborah C Beidel

Abstract

Although children with social phobia (SP) and selective mutism (SM) present similarly in a clinical setting, it remains unclear whether children with SM are unable to speak due to overwhelming anxiety, or whether withholding speech functions as an avoidance mechanism. A total of 35 children (ages 5-12 years) with either SM (n = 10), SP (n = 11), or no diagnosis (n = 14) participated in the current study. Measurements included clinician, child, and parent ratings as well as behavioral observations and psychophysiological measures. Independent evaluators and clinicians rated children with SM as more severely impaired, more anxious, and less socially effective, but the groups did not differ in self- or parent-reported anxiety. Psychophysiological measures indicated that children in the SM group experienced less arousal than other children during social interaction tasks. The authors postulate that lack of speech may serve as an avoidance mechanism and thus account for this lack of arousal.

Citations

Oct 27, 2015·Journal of Anxiety Disorders·Brian E BunnellCharmaine Higa-McMillan
Mar 1, 2015·Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review·Peter Muris, Thomas H Ollendick
Mar 14, 2016·European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry·Angelika GensthalerChristina Schwenck
Jun 21, 2015·Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry·Vårin AlbrigtsenMagne Mæhle
Mar 5, 2016·Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry·Evelyn R KleinJanice Gordon
Oct 28, 2019·Child Psychiatry and Human Development·Jim DriessenMarc L Molendijk
Jul 6, 2020·European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry·Kristie L PooleLouis A Schmidt
Feb 1, 2018·Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services·Heather L Smith-Schrandt, Erin Ellington
Jan 27, 2019·European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry·Felix VogelChristina Schwenck
Jul 28, 2019·Journal of Anxiety Disorders·Rosalind CatchpoleTamara Salih
Jan 20, 2021·Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review·Peter Muris, Thomas H Ollendick
Jun 29, 2021·Frontiers in Psychology·Christopher A Kearney, Melanie Rede

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