Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Anxiety and Accommodation in Children with Selective Mutism

• In Event: Poster Session 07
  In Poster Session: PS 07 Topic - Developmental Psychopathology

Abstract

Parental accommodation is defined as any action taken by parents to reduce their child’s anxiety (e.g., assisting with avoidance of anxiety-provoking situations; Lebowitz et al., 2012). Higher levels of accommodation are related to more severe anxiety symptoms and higher functional impairment in children (e.g. Caporino et al., 2012; Lebowitz et al., 2014), and they are hypothesized to maintain anxiety symptoms in children with selective mutism (SM; Kotrba, 2015). As children’s lives have changed during the COVID-19 pandemic, so may have patterns of accommodation in families of clinically anxious children. Although information about the impact of the COVID-19 stay-at-home orders on children’s mental health is limited, psychologists have emphasized the risk for increased anxiety in children, especially children with preexisting mental health conditions (Jefsen et al., 2020). The purpose of this study was to examine changes in anxiety and parental accommodation during the COVID-19 pandemic in a sample of children with preexisting anxiety disorders.
Participants were parents of a child with diagnosed or suspected SM. The first wave of data collection occurred from November 2019 through April 2020 (T1) and consisted of online questionnaires about the child’s anxiety and SM symptoms, the parent’s anxiety, and parenting behaviors. The second wave occurred from July 2020 through August 2020 (T2); parents were asked about their and their child’s anxiety in relation to COVID-19 and its impact on their daily lives from March 15 to June 1.
Ninety-three parents completed both surveys. Children were ages 4 to 12 (M = 7.44, SD = 2.67); most were female (62.4%), white (80.6%), and non-Hispanic (83.9%). Most children were diagnosed with SM (88.3%), Social Anxiety Disorder (34.4%) and/or Generalized Anxiety Disorder (16.1%). Surveys included the Selective Mutism Questionnaire (SMQ; Bergman, 2013), the Screen for Childhood Anxiety-Related Disorders (SCARED; Birmaher et al., 1999), and a modified Family Accommodation Checklist and Interference Scale (FACLIS; Thompson-Hollands, et al., 2014).
Paired-samples t-tests were conducted to examine changes in children’s symptoms and parental accommodation. Neither SM symptoms nor anxiety symptoms significantly differed between T1 and T2 (t[75] = .70, p = .48; t[73] = .82, p = .41). However, parents reported significantly lower interference and distress related to their child’s SM symptoms at T2 (t[75] = 2.93, p < .01). Furthermore, parents accommodated for their child’s anxiety less frequently at T2 (t[66] = 3.06, p <.01) and reported lower interference from accommodation (t[66] = 2.16, p < .05).
We found changes in how children’s anxiety impacted themselves and their families during the pandemic, despite no changes in their anxiety symptoms. We theorize that as children engaged in fewer social interactions during this time, their SM and anxiety symptoms were less disruptive and distressing. Further, it is likely that parents accommodated for their child’s anxiety less frequently because children were placed in fewer anxiety-provoking situations. Future research should explore changes in children’s anxiety and parental accommodation following the pandemic, when children are asked to re-engage socially and face anxiety-provoking situations once more.

Authors

• Kira Boneff, Eastern Michigan University
  Presenting Author

• Zachary A Colton, Eastern Michigan University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Patricia C Lasutschinkow, Eastern Michigan University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Aidan Schmitt, Eastern Michigan University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Carol Freedman-Doan, Eastern Michigan University
  Non-Presenting Author