Symptoms of Selective Mutism in Non-clinical 3- to 6-Year-Old Children: Relations With Social Anxiety, Autistic Features, and Behavioral Inhibition.

Peter Muris,Lotte Weijsters,Nona Monait,Thomas H Ollendick

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.669907

Peter Muris, Lotte Weijsters + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.669907

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Abstract

Selective mutism (SM) is a psychiatric condition that is characterized by a failure to speak in specific social situations (e. g., at school) despite speaking normally in other situations (e.g., at home). There is abundant evidence that anxiety, and social anxiety in particular, is a prominent feature of SM, which is the main reason why this condition is currently classified as an anxiety disorder. Meanwhile, there is increasing support for the notion that autism-related problems are also involved in SM. The present study examined the relations between SM and social anxiety, autistic features, and behavioral inhibition to the unfamiliar (i.e., the tendency to react with restraint and withdrawal when confronted with unfamiliar stimuli and situations). Parents of 172 3- to 6-year-old preschool children completed an online survey for measuring the relevant constructs. Results showed that there were positive and statistically significant correlations between SM and social anxiety, autistic features, and behavioral inhibition. Regression analyses revealed that (1) both social anxiety and autistic features accounted for a significant and unique proportion of the variance in SM scores, and (2) that both of these variables no longer made a significant contribution once behavioral inhibition was added to the model. It can be concluded that while the involvement of social anxiety is unambiguous in SM, autism-related problems are also implicated. Furthermore, behavioral inhibition seems to play a key role in the non-speaking behavior of non-clinical young children.

Highlights

The prototypical feature of children with selective mutism (SM) is a total absence of speech in specific social situations while showing a normal ability to speak in other situations [e.g., at home; American Psychiatric Association, 2013]
A comparison of the Selective Mutism Questionnaire (SMQ), PAS-R, Autism Spectrum Questionnaire (ASQ), and Behavioral Inhibition Questionnaire-Short Form (BIQ-SF) scores with normative data of these measures (Spence et al, 2001; Vreeke et al, 2012; Van der Ploeg and Scholte, 2014; Oerbeck et al, 2020) revealed that parents rated the children in the present study as clearly falling in the normal range of selective mutism, social anxiety, autistic features, and behavioral inhibition
The present study examined psychopathological and temperamental correlates of SM symptoms in a non-clinical sample of 3- to 6-year-old children by means of a parent survey

Summary

INTRODUCTION

The prototypical feature of children with selective mutism (SM) is a total absence of speech in specific social situations (e.g., school) while showing a normal ability to speak in other situations [e.g., at home; American Psychiatric Association, 2013]. Little is known about the link between BIU and ASD, it should be noted that children with autism-related problems often display reticence and distress when meeting unfamiliar people or facing novel situations, which is typical for temperamental inhibition (Ersoy, 2019) With these issues in mind, the present study made a first attempt to examine the (unique) relations between social anxiety, autistic features, and BIU on the one hand and symptoms of SM on the other hand. The role of BIU was investigated more exploratively, but on the basis of an earlier study (Muris et al, 2016) it can be expected that this temperament typology makes a significant contribution to symptoms of SM even when controlling for its shared variance with the other constructs and social anxiety in particular

Participants and Procedure

General Findings

ASQ Autistic features

DISCUSSION

ETHICS STATEMENT