AI Article Synopsis

  • Selective mutism (SM) is recognized as an anxiety disorder, and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is the recommended treatment, though long-term outcome studies are limited.
  • A recent study tracked 30 children who underwent a school-based CBT intervention for SM over a 5-year period, revealing that 21 were in full remission, while some continued to experience challenges.
  • Factors such as older age, the severity of SM, and familial history negatively impacted outcomes, emphasizing the need for improved interventions for children who struggle with persistent symptoms.

Article Abstract

Selective mutism (SM) has been defined as an anxiety disorder in the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-5). Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is the recommended approach for SM, but prospective long-term outcome studies are lacking. Reports from the children themselves, and the use of more global quality of life measures, are also missing in the literature. We have developed a school-based CBT intervention previously found to increase speech in a pilot efficacy study and a randomized controlled treatment study. Continued progress was found in our 1-year follow-up studies, where older age and more severe SM had a significant negative effect upon outcome. In the present study, we provide 5-year outcome data for 30 of these 32 children with SM who completed the same CBT for mean 21 weeks (sd 5, range 8-24) at mean age 6 years (10 boys). Mean age at the 5-year follow-up was 11 years (range 8-14). Outcome measures were diagnostic status, the teacher- and parent-rated selective mutism questionnaires, and child rated quality of life and speaking behavior. At the 5-year follow-up, 21 children were in full remission, five were in partial remission and four fulfilled diagnostic criteria for SM. Seven children (23%) fulfilled criteria for social phobia, and separation anxiety disorder, specific phobia and/or enuresis nocturna were found in a total of five children (17%). Older age and severity at baseline and familial SM were significant negative predictors of outcome. Treatment gains were maintained on the teacher- and parent questionnaires. The children rated their overall quality of life as good. Although most of them talked outside of home, 50% still experienced it as somewhat challenging. These results point to the long-term effectiveness of CBT for SM, but also highlight the need to develop more effective interventions for the subset of children with persistent symptoms.Clinical trials registration NCT01002196.

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Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6060963PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00787-018-1110-7DOI Listing

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