Title

Selective Mutism: A Review And Integration Of The Last 15 Years

Keywords

Children; Developmental psychopathology; Disorder; Elective mutism; Review; Selective mutism

Abstract

Selective mutism (SM) is a rare childhood disorder characterized by a lack of speech in one or more settings in which speaking is socially expected. A comprehensive and uniform theory about the etiology, assessment, and treatment of SM does not exist. Historically, varying definitions and criteria have been applied to children with SM, therefore making comparisons between studies somewhat difficult. Accumulating findings on the phenomenology of SM point to a complex and multidetermined etiology. Developmental psychopathology represents a useful heuristic for conceptualization of SM and serves as an integrative framework for organizing the sometimes disparate findings that permeate the SM literature. The purpose of this review is to summarize the literature on SM, including phenomenology, assessment, and treatment, with the main goals of clarifying its clinical presentation, offering a theoretical understanding of SM from a developmental psychopathology perspective, and highlighting both research and practice gaps that may exist. Recommendations for future research are made with the goal of expanding the current knowledge base on the etiology of SM. © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Publication Date

2-1-2009

Publication Title

Clinical Psychology Review

Volume

29

Issue

1

Number of Pages

57-67

Document Type

Review

Personal Identifier

scopus

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2008.09.009

Socpus ID

57549089684 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/57549089684

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS