The core symptom of the anxiety disorder selective mutism (SM) is absence of speech in specific situations, such as at school. The most commonly used standardized instruments to assess speaking behavior are the parent-rated Selective Mutism Questionnaire (SMQ) and the teacher-rated School Speech Questionnaire (SSQ), scored from 0 to 3, indicating that speaking behavior never, seldom, often, and always occur. They were developed to assess severity of mutism and potential effects of treatment. However, prospective data on speaking behavior in typically developing children (TDs) are missing in the literature. The main aim of this study was to present data from TDs over time with previously reported data from children treated for SM, as a comparison. Participants were 64 children aged 3–9 years, 32 TDs who were a matched control group to 32 children with SM. At baseline, the mean SMQ and SSQ scores were ⩾2.5 in TDs and 0.5 in children with SM. The TDs did not show significant changes over time, while significantly increased speech was found in children with SM after treatment. Thus, our findings support the use of the SMQ/SSQ to assess baseline SM severity and to evaluate potential treatment effects in future studies.

中文翻译：

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选择性缄默问卷：来自典型发育儿童和选择性缄默症儿童的数据

焦虑症选择性缄默 (SM) 的核心症状是在特定情况下无法说话，例如在学校。评估说话行为最常用的标准化工具是家长评定的选择性缄默问卷 (SMQ) 和教师评定的学校言语问卷 (SSQ)，评分从 0 到 3，表明说话行为从不、很少、经常和总是发生。开发它们是为了评估缄默症的严重程度和治疗的潜在影响。然而，文献中缺少关于典型发育儿童 (TD) 说话行为的前瞻性数据。本研究的主要目的是将 TD 随时间推移的数据与先前报告的接受 SM 治疗的儿童的数据进行比较。参与者是 64 名 3-9 岁的儿童，32 名 TD，他们是 32 名 SM 儿童的匹配对照组。在基线时，TD 的平均 SMQ 和 SSQ 得分为 ⩾ 2.5，SM 儿童为 0.5。随着时间的推移，TDs 没有表现出明显的变化，而治疗后 SM 儿童的言语显着增加。因此，我们的研究结果支持使用 SMQ/SSQ 来评估基线 SM 严重程度并评估未来研究中的潜在治疗效果。