Selective mutism: Unwilling to speak or scared silent?

To examine the relationship between selective mutism and anxiety, 15 children with selective mutism (SM) were compared to 15 children with anxiety disorders (AD) and a control group of 15 nonclinical children (CN). The study included children age 4--10 years and relied on information from multiple informants. Each participant was assessed by the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule for Children for DSM-IV, Child Behavior Checklist, Teacher Report Form, Behavioral Style Questionnaire, and the Family Environment Scale. Results indicate that SM children closely resemble AD children. The SM and AD groups substantially differed from the CN group with regards to internalizing behavior problems. There were no differences among the groups with regards to externalizing behavior problems and reports of externalizing problems were low among all groups. 100% of SM children received a diagnosis of social phobia and 53% received an additional anxiety diagnosis. These results support that selective mutism is anxiety based.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (MA)

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychology

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Year

2003

Author dc:creator

• Vecchio, Jennifer Lynn

Contributors dc:contributor

• Christopher A. Kearney

Statement dc:rights

• IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language

English

Identifier

https://oasis.library.unlv.edu/rtds/1518

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:oasis.library.unlv.edu:rtds-2517