ABSTRACT
Selective mutism (SM) is a rare disorder that is associated with both anxiety and communication impairments. Preliminary evidence suggests that educational attainment and development of social skills and self-esteem may be affected by SM in a significant proportion of cases. There is a critical need for cross-disciplinary research from the fields of speech-language pathology, psychiatry, and clinical psychology to develop protocols for assessing language and cognitive functioning in children with SM and developing interventions that address psychiatric, communicative, and social aspects of this disorder.
KEYWORDS
Selective mutism - anxiety - language disorders
REFERENCES
1 American Psychiatric Association .Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 4th ed. Washington, DC; American Psychiatric Association 1994
2
Bergman R L, Piacentini J, McCracken J T.
Prevalence and description of selective mutism in a school-based sample.
J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry.
2002;
41
938-946
3
Kopp S, Gillberg C.
Selective mutism: a population based study: a research note.
J Child Psychol Psychiatry.
1997;
38
257-262
4
Kumpulainen K, Rasanen E, Raaska H, Somppi V.
Selective mutism among second graders in elementary school.
Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry.
1998;
7
24-29
5
Kristensen H.
Selective mutism and comorbidity with developmental disorder/delay, anxiety disorder, and elimination disorder.
J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry.
2000;
39
249-256
6
Kristensen H.
Non-specific markers of neurodevelopmental disorder/delay in selective mutism: a case-control study.
Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry.
2002;
11
71-78
7
Anstendig K D.
Is selective mutism an anxiety disorder? Rethinking DSM-IV classification.
J Anxiety Disord.
1999;
13
417-434
8 American Psychiatric Association .Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 4th ed, text revision (DSM-IV-TR). Washington, DC; American Psychiatric Association 2000
9 World Health Organization .International Classification of Diseases. 10th ed. (ICD-10). Washington, DC; World Health Organization 1992
10
Carr A, Afnan S.
Concurrent individual and family therapy of elective mutism.
J Fam Ther.
1989;
2
29-44
11
Elson A, Pearson C, Jones C D, Schumacher E.
Follow-up study of childhood elective mutism.
Arch Gen Psychiatry.
1965;
13
182-187
12
Kristensen H, Torgensen S.
MCMI-II personality traits and symptom traits in parents of children with selective mutism: a case-control study.
J Abnorm Psychol.
2001;
110
648-652
13
Black B, Uhde T.
Elective mutism as a variant of social phobia.
J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry.
1992;
31
1090-1094
14
Manassis K, Fung D, Tannock R, Sloman L, Fiksenbaum L, McInnes A.
Characterizing selective mutism: is it more than social anxiety?.
Depress Anxiety.
2003;
18
153-161
15
Yeganeh R, Beidel D C, Turner S M, Pina A A, Silverman W K.
Clinical distinctions between selective mutism and social phobia: an investigation of childhood psychopathology.
J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry.
2003;
42
1069-1075
16
Steinhausen H C, Juzi C.
Elective mutism: an analysis of 100 cases.
J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry.
1996;
35
606-614
17
Lafferty J E, Constantino J N.
Fluvoxamine in selective mutism.
J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry.
1998;
37
12-13
18
Carlson J S, Kratochwill T R, Johnston H F.
Sertraline treatment of 5 children diagnosed with selective mutism: a single case research trial.
J Child Adolesc Psychopharmacol.
1999;
9
293-306
19
Goldwyn D H, Sevlie C P.
Phenelzine treatment of selective mutism in four prepubertal children.
J Child Adolesc Psychopharmacol.
1999;
9
109-113
20
Kagan J, Reznick J S, Snidman N.
Biological bases of childhood shyness.
Science.
1988;
240
167-171
21
Biederman J, Rosenbaum J F, Hirshfeld D R et al..
Psychiatric correlates of behavioral inhibition in young children of parents with and without psychiatric disorders.
Arch Gen Psychiatry.
1990;
47
21-26
22
Biederman J, Hirshfeld D R, Rosenbaum J F et al..
Further evidence of association between behavioral inhibition and social phobia in children.
Am J Psychiatry.
2001;
158
1673-1679
23
Kagan J, Reznick J S, Snidman N.
The physiology and psychology of behavioral inhibition in children.
Child Dev.
1987;
58
1459-1473
24
Wilkins R.
A comparison of elective mutism and emotional disorders in children.
Br J Psychiatry.
1985;
146
198-203
25
Kolvin I, Fundudis T.
Elective mute children: psychological development, and background factors.
J Child Psychol Psychiatry.
1981;
22
219-232
26
Wright H L.
A clinical study of children who refuse to talk in school.
J Am Acad Child Psychiatry.
1968;
7
603-617
27
Gray R M, Jordan C M, Ziegler R S, Livingston R B.
Two sets of twins with selective mutism: neuropsychological findings.
Neuropsychol Dev Cogn C Child Neuropsychol.
2002;
8
41-51
28
McInnes A, Fung D, Manassis K, Fiksenbaum L, Tannock R.
Narrative abilities in children with selective mutism: an exploratory study.
Am J Speech Lang Pathol.
2004;
13
304-315
29
Dow S P, Sonies B C, Scheib D, Moss S E, Leonard H L.
Practical guidelines for the assessment and treatment of selective mutism.
J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry.
1995;
34
836-846
30
Beitchman J H, Wilson B, Johnson C J et al..
Fourteen-year follow-up of speech/language-impaired and control children: psychiatric outcome.
J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry.
2001;
40
75-82
31
Bar-Haim Y, Henkin Y, Ari-Even-Roth D, Tetin-Schneider S, Hildesheimer M, Muchnik C.
Reduced auditory efferent activity in childhood selective mutism.
Biol Psychiatry.
2004;
55
1061-1068
32
Bradley S, Sloman L.
Elective mutism in immigrant families.
J Am Acad Child Psychiatry.
1975;
14
510-514
33
Elizur Y, Perednik R.
Prevalence and description of selective mutism in immigrant and native families: a controlled study.
J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry.
2003;
42
1451-1459
34
Remschmidt H, Poller M, Herpertz-Dahlmann B, Henninghausen K, Gutenbrunner C.
A follow-up study of 45 patients with elective mutism.
Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci.
2001;
251
284-296
35
Cunningham C E, McHolm A, Boyle M H, Patel S.
Behavioral and emotional adjustment, family functioning, academic performance, and social relationships in children with selective mutism.
J Child Psychol Psychiatry.
2004;
45
1363-1372
36
Cleator H, Hand L.
Selective mutism: how a successful speech and language assessment really is possible.
Int J Lang Commun Disord.
2001;
36(suppl)
126-131
37
Klein R G.
Parent-child agreement in clinical assessment of anxiety and other psychopathology: a review.
J Anx Dis.
1991;
5
187-198
38 Silverman W K, Albano A M. Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule for DSM-IV. San Antonio, TX; Graywind Publications 1996
39
Birmaher B, Khetarpal S, Brent D et al..
The Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED): scale construction and psychometric characteristics.
J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry.
1997;
36
545-553
40
Achenbach T M, Ruffle T M.
The Child Behavior Checklist and related forms for assessing behavioral/emotional problems and competencies.
Pediatr Rev.
2000;
21
265-271
41 Wechsler D. Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children. 3rd ed. New York; Psychological Corp 1994
42 Carrow-Woolfolk E. Test of Auditory Comprehension of Language. 3rd ed. Austin, TX; Pro-Ed 1999
43 Semel E, Wiig E, Secord W. Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals. 3rd ed. San Antonio, TX; Psychological Corp 1995
44 Lindamood P, Lindamood P. The Lindamood Auditory Conceptualization Test. Allan, TX; DLM Teaching Resources 1974
45
Browne E, Wilson V, Laybourne P C.
Diagnosis and treatment of elective mutism in children.
J Am Acad Child Psychiatry.
1963;
51
605-617
46
Kumpulainen K.
Phenomenology and treatment of selective mutism.
CNS Drugs.
2002;
16
175-180
47
Dummit III E S, Klein R, Tancer N K, Ashe B, Martin J.
Fluoxetine treatment of children with selective mutism: an open trial.
J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry.
1996;
35
615-621
48
Black B, Uhde T.
Treatment of elective mutism with fluoxetine: a double blind placebo-controlled study.
J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry.
1994;
33
1000-1006
49
Kendall P C.
Treating anxiety disorders in children: results of a randomized clinical trial.
J Consult Clin Psychol.
1994;
62
100-110
50
Kendall P C, Flannery-Schroeder E, Panichelli-Mindel S M, Southam-Gerow M, Henin A, Warman M.
Therapy for youths with anxiety disorders: a second randomized clinical trial.
J Consult Clin Psychol.
1997;
65
366-380
51
Fung D, Manassis K, Kenny A, Fiksenbaum L.
Web-based CBT for selective mutism (Letter to the Editor).
J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry.
2002;
41
112-113
52
Calhoun J, Koenig K P.
Classroom modification of elective mutism.
J Beh Ther Exp Psychology.
1973;
4
700-702
53 Manassis K. Keys to Parenting Your Anxious Child. Hauppage, NY; Barron's Educational Series 1996
54
Stein M T, Rapin I, Yapko D.
Challenging case: selective mutism.
Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics.
1999;
20
S123-S126
55 Johnson M, Wintgens A. The Selective Mutism Resource Manual. Oxon, UK; Speechmark Publishing 2001
56
Fujiki M, Brinton B, Morgan M, Hart C.
Withdrawn and sociable behaviour of children with language impairment.
Lang Speech Hear Serv Sch.
1999;
30
183-195
57
Hart K, Fujiki M, Brinton B, Hart C.
The relationship between social behaviour and severity of language impairment.
J Speech Lang Hear Res.
2004;
47
647-662
Alison McInnesPh.D.
Assistant Professor of Special Education, Faculty of Education, University of Windsor
Windsor, Ontario, N9B 3P4 Canada
eMail: amcinnes@uwindsor.ca