Selective Mutism: Identification of Subtypes and Implications for Treatment

Mulligan, Christy A.; Shipon-Blum, Elisa

doi:10.15640/jehd.v4n1a9

Cited by 19 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Thus, besides (social) anxiety other variables play a role in the development and maintenance of the non-speaking behavior of children with SM. This has not only been shown in the earlier described study by Cohan et al ( 2008 ) but also by Mulligan ( 2012 ) who identified five subtypes of the disorder that were each typified by a specific set of underlying difficulties. Although anxiety appeared to be the prominent feature of one subtype of children with SM, other subtypes were characterized by the presence of other problems (e.g., developmental delays, oppositional behavior, language expression difficulties, sensory/self-regulation problems).…”

Section: Sm: More Than Just An Anxiety Disorder?supporting

confidence: 63%

Selective Mutism and Its Relations to Social Anxiety Disorder and Autism Spectrum Disorder

Muris

Ollendick

2021

Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev

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In current classification systems, selective mutism (SM) is included in the broad anxiety disorders category. Indeed, there is abundant evidence showing that anxiety, and social anxiety in particular, is a prominent feature of SM. In this article, we point out that autism spectrum problems in addition to anxiety problems are sometimes also implicated in SM. To build our case, we summarize evidence showing that SM, social anxiety disorder (SAD), and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are allied clinical conditions and share communalities in the realm of social difficulties. Following this, we address the role of a prototypical class of ASD symptoms, restricted and repetitive behaviors and interests (RRBIs), which are hypothesized to play a special role in the preservation and exacerbation of social difficulties. We then substantiate our point that SM is sometimes more than an anxiety disorder by addressing its special link with ASD in more detail. Finally, we close by noting that the possible involvement of ASD in SM has a number of consequences for clinical practice with regard to its classification, assessment, and treatment of children with SM and highlight a number of directions for future research.

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Section: Sm: More Than Just An Anxiety Disorder?supporting

confidence: 63%

Selective Mutism and Its Relations to Social Anxiety Disorder and Autism Spectrum Disorder

Muris

Ollendick

2021

Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev

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“…The majority of these reports consisted of case studies (k = 188) or reviews (k = 67), which were unsuitable for meta-analysis, and therefore also excluded. Further screening via abstract review identified 91 papers reporting on samples of individuals diagnosed with SM that were retained for full-text review, along with one paper that was detected with the aid of backward searches [8]. Two authors (JD and MLM) independently carried out the full-text reviews for eligibility.…”

Section: Search Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The mean age of onset of SM is between 2.7 and 4.6 years [2][3][4][5], although the condition may go unnoticed until the child enters elementary school [6]. SM appears to be slightly more common in girls than in boys, with a reported sex ratio between 1:1.2 and 1:2 [7][8][9]. Most attempts to estimate the prevalence of SM have been conducted in school-based communities and yielded point prevalence rates ranging between 0.03 and 0.79% [4,[10][11][12][13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Even though the overlap between SM and social phobia appears to be high, surprisingly low rates of comorbid social phobia have also been reported [49,50], although part of the children in these studies had been diagnosed with other comorbid anxiety disorders. As a matter of fact, comorbid diagnoses of anxiety disorder other than social phobia are commonly reported in children with SM, including specific phobia [46,50] and separation anxiety disorder [8,51].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Anxiety in Children with Selective Mutism: A Meta-analysis

Driessen

Blom

Muris

et al. 2019

Child Psychiatry Hum Dev

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This study evaluates the current conceptualization of selective mutism (SM) as an anxiety disorder in the DSM-5 using a meta-analytic approach. In the absence of any systematic assessment of anxiety in the field of SM, we pooled prevalence data of comorbid anxiety disorders in a random-effects meta-analysis. On the basis of 22 eligible studies (N = 837), we found that 80% of the children with SM were diagnosed with an additional anxiety disorder, notably social phobia (69%). However, considerable heterogeneity was present, which remained unexplained by a priori specified moderators. The finding that SM is often diagnosed in combination with anxiety disorders, indicates that these disorders are not discrete, separable categories. Moreover, this finding does not help to elucidate the relation between SM and anxiety as an etiological mechanism or symptomatic feature. Broadening our research strategies regarding the assessment of anxiety is paramount to clarify the role of anxiety in SM, and allow for proper classification.

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“…Κάποιες αναζήτησαν τα διαφορετικά είδη επιλεκτικής αλαλίας (Mulligan, 2012), ενώ κάποιες άλλες διερεύνησαν τα ψυχοπαθολογικά χαρακτηριστικά της (Dummit et al, 1997).…”

Section: επιλεκτική αλαλία στο σχολείο 29unclassified

Επιλεκτική Αλαλία Στο Σχολείο. Σχέσεις Και Αντιλήψεις Στο Εκπαιδευτικό Πλαίσιο: Μία Μελέτη Περίπτωσης.

Mokaiti

Rekalidou

Karousou

2017

Ppej

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Selective mutism is an anxiety disorder which prevents a child from speaking in specific social situations, while (s)he has the ability to do so. Children with selective mutism face important difficulties at school, as they lag behind in important expressive and social skills, facing great difficulties in the establishment of social relationships both with their teachers and with peers. Selective mutism, also, poses serious challenges for their educators who have to support and integrate these children in the educational process. The purpose of this qualitative research was to study, within the Greek educational context, various parameters that jointly shape the social and pedagogical relationships and interactions of an eleven-year-old child with selective mutism. For the purposes of this case-study, data were collected by means of (a) a sociometric test aimed to measure the popularity of this particular student, (b) two questionnaires aimed at collecting data on his verbal communication in varying social contexts, namely: a teacher report questionnaire, the “School Speech Questionnaire” (SSQ), as well as a parent report questionnaire, the “Selective Mutism Questionnaire” (SMQ), (c) semi-structured interviews with both the child’s caregivers and teachers, concerning his social interactions and participation in the educational process, as well as their personal views, strategies, difficulties and needs, and d) a direct non-participant observation of the child during the school breaks. Overall, the picture that emerges is that of a silent, reserved and ignored child at school, whose teachers feel that they do not have the appropriate knowledge and training to respond to his specific needs and to support him. Outside the educational context, he appears to be a typically developing child, maintaining verbal interactions with both his family and friends. Overall, this research shows various aspects of the life of a child with selective mutism highlighting the need for studying systematically the school life of children with selective mutism, especially in the Greek context, for fostering the relevant knowledge and skills of the educators, as well as for developing particular guidelines, strategies and tools that would help them support those children.

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Selective Mutism: Identification of Subtypes and Implications for Treatment

Cited by 19 publications

References 32 publications

Selective Mutism and Its Relations to Social Anxiety Disorder and Autism Spectrum Disorder

Selective Mutism and Its Relations to Social Anxiety Disorder and Autism Spectrum Disorder

Anxiety in Children with Selective Mutism: A Meta-analysis

Επιλεκτική Αλαλία Στο Σχολείο. Σχέσεις Και Αντιλήψεις Στο Εκπαιδευτικό Πλαίσιο: Μία Μελέτη Περίπτωσης.

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