Evaluating Intensive Group Behavioral Treatment for Children With Selective Mutism

CGI-I is the most widely used clinician-rated measure of treatment-related changes in functioning (Guy & Bonato, 1970) and will be completed by masked independent evaluators in the present study. The CGI-I rates clinical improvement on a 7-point scale, ranging from 1 ("very much improved") to 7 ("very much worse").

The ADIS is is a semi-structured diagnostic interview that assesses child psychopathology in accordance with DSM criteria. From the ADIS, clinical severity ratings are generated by independent evaluators (IEs) to determine severity of selective mutism and social anxiety disorder. IE's also determine presence of diagnosis, which was also a main outcome.

The SMQ is a parent-report measure of selective mutism/verbal behaviors in various settings. Two subscales were used for the purpose of this study, the "Social" subscale ("social" scores are a sum of 5 items with scores ranging from 0-15) and the "Home" subscale ("home" scores are a sum of 6 items with scores ranging from 0-18). Lower scores indicate less verbal behavior, and higher scores indicate more verbal behavior.

The Children's Global Assessment Scale (CGAS; Shaffer et al., 1983) is a widely used measure of overall child disturbance, providing a clinician-rated index of functioning. Scores range from 0-100, with lower scores indicating greater functional impairments.

The CBCL is a parent-report general measure assessing multiple problems of childhood. Subscales are standardized by age and gender. The "Anxiety Problems" Subscale t-score will be used as an outcome measure for the purpose of this study.

The SSQ is a brief measure given to teachers to assess verbal behavior in the school setting. The SSQ generates a total score, which is a sum of 7 items. Scores range from 0-21, with lower scores indicating less verbal behavior, and higher scores indicating more verbal behavior.

The IRS is a brief teacher-report scale of how much a child's "problems" are interfering with their social and academic functioning in the school setting. The IRS consists of 7 items, with 6 of the items being rated on a scale from 0-6, with higher scores being more indicative of a worst problem. The 6 items are summed to form a total score which ranges from 0 to 36, with higher scores indicating worse problems.