Family Accommodation in Selective Mutism: Prevalence, Relationship to Symptom Severity, and Issues in Measurement/Assessment.

The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of parental accommodation in a clinical sample of children diagnosed with selective mutism (SM) (n = 38), SM and comorbid anxiety disorder(s) (n = 28), other anxiety disorders (n = 34), and non-anxiety disorders (n = 30) and to compare accommodation across these diagnostic groups. The study also sought to measure the relationship between accommodation and SM symptom severity. Parents who sought intakes at a private practice completed the Family Accommodation Scale-Anxiety questionnaire measuring accommodation behavior and other measures of anxiety and SM symptoms. The results highlighted that accommodation in the SM sample was prevalent, however reported at a lower frequency and with lower levels of parental distress than expected. Additionally, no correlation was found between accommodation and SM symptom severity. This study suggests a clinical need for a specific measure to assess unique parental accommodation behaviors in SM.