Abstract
This study examined whether parental psychopathology (depression and social anxiety), parenting styles (authoritative, authoritarian, permissive) and practice (parental accommodation), and parental beliefs about children’s anxiety are related to symptom severity in pediatric patients diagnosed with Selective Mutism (SM). Participants included 78 children, aged 3.5-8.5 years, with SM diagnosis, and their primary care-giving parent. The measures included clinical interviews, clinicians and parents’ reports, and behavioral observations. Clinician reports of less severe SM symptoms in children were associated with more positive parental beliefs about their children’s anxiety. Parents’ reports of less severe symptoms in their children were associated with lower levels of parental social anxiety and accommodations, as well as with more authoritative and authoritarian parenting styles. Parental accommodations mediated the relationship between parental social anxiety and severity of children’s symptoms, such that parents who are more socially anxious were also more accommodative, and this was related to greater SM severity. The findings of this study highlight important parenting characteristics involved in SM. These findings may lead to refining the psychological interventions for children with SM by allocating greater attention to parents’ characteristics.
Highlights
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This study examined the relationships between parental characteristics and symptom severity in children with Selective mutism.
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Parents’ social anxiety, authority style, accommodation and beliefs regarding their children’s anxiety are related to children’s symptom severity.
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Parental accommodation has a unique contribution to children’s symptom severity and mediates its relationship with parents’ social anxiety.
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Shorer, M., Ben-Haim, Z., Krispin, O. et al. Parents’ Social Anxiety, Authority Style and Accommodation are Associated with Symptom Severity in Children with Selective Mutism. J Child Fam Stud 32, 2748–2760 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-023-02555-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-023-02555-7