Impact of Age on Frequency and Interference of Parental Accommodation of Children With Selective Mutism

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

Abstract

Purpose/Background: Parental accommodation of child anxiety is a well-recognized practice related to child anxiety. According to Marina Iniesta-Sepúlveda (2020), “Attachment behaviors, parental proximity, or facilitating avoidance are instinctive actions of parents in response to children’s fears and anxiety” (p. 1). Most studies of accommodation are in regard to pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD; e.g., Lebowitz et al., 2012), and this research has laid the groundwork for understanding accommodation patterns in the less-studied anxiety disorder, Selective Mutism (SM). To date, studies exploring patterns of parental accommodation of children with SM by age, as well as how much such accommodations interfere with parents’ lives, are lacking. Thus, this study aims to explore age differences in parental accommodation and interference in families of children with SM..

Methods: Participants were 224 parents of a child with suspected or diagnosed SM who reported on their child’s symptoms and mental health history as well as their own anxiety symptoms and parenting behavior through an online survey. Participating children were between the ages of 3 and 12 (M = 7.40, SD = 2.44). A majority of the children were Caucasian (82.9%), non-Hispanic (87.5%), and female (67.4%). Parents completed a modified version of the Family Accommodation Checklist and Interference Scale (FACLIS; Thompson-Hollands et al., 2014) that assesses the kinds of accommodations parents do and how much the accommodation interferes with their lives.

Results: Two one-way analyses of variance (ANOVAs) were conducted to examine differences in accommodation frequency and interference by age groups (ages 3-5, ages 6-8, ages 9-12). We found no significant difference in accommodation frequency between age groups (F (2, 193) = 1.57, p = .211). However, there was a significant difference in interference level by age (F (2, 193) = 3.667, p < 0.05). Post-hoc analyses were conducted using the Tukey HSD test, which indicated that parents from the 9-12 age group (M = 2.67, SD = 1.99) reported significantly higher interference from accommodation than the 6-8 age group (M = 1.87, SD = 1.57). The 3-5 age group was not significantly different from either of the other two groups.

Discussion: Our results suggest that although accommodation does not differ by child age, accommodation is more interfering for the parents of the 9-12 age group. Although one would assume that as a child ages their interference in their parents’ lives would be less significant, this is not the case when looking at SM. This may be because in the eyes of the parent they may be expecting their child to drop certain habits, and it may be more distressing to have an older child exhibit behaviors that younger children tend to do. This research is important for therapists working with different age groups of children with SM and their parents, and suggests that parental responses to anxiety and distress may vary by age of the child.

Authors

• Kylie A Quinn, Eastern Michigan University
  Presenting Author

• Kira Boneff, Eastern Michigan University
  Non-Presenting Author

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