Efficacy and Safety of Psychomotor Approach in Children Affected by Selective Mutism: A Multicenter Study in Italian Pediatric Population

Abstract

Introduction: Selective mutism is a relative rare disease in children coded by DSM-V in anxiety disorders. No specific treatment were yet coded, although the disabling nature of the disease. Aims of the present study were to verify the effect of the six months standard psychomotor approach on a population of children affected by selective mutism and the effects on life aspects. Materials and Methods: The study population was composed of 67 children (39 males, mean age of 7.93 ± 1.05 years) recruited in the Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatric Center of Second University of Naples. The psychomotor approach was administered by trained child therapists in residential settings three per week, with the same therapist for each child; all therapists shared the same protocol. The standard psychomotor session length was 45 minutes. At T0 and after 6 months (T1) of treatments, the patients underwent a behavioural and SM severity assessment. In order to verify the effects of the psychomotor approach, the CBCL and SMQ were administered to parents of all children. Results: After 6 months of psychomotor treatment SM children showed a significant reduction in Social Relations, Anxious/Depressed, Social problems and Total problems (p<0.001), Withdrawn (p=0.007) and Internalizing problems (p=0.020) among CBCL scores. (Table 1) Regarding SM severity according SMQ assessment, our sample showed a reduction of SM symptoms in all situations (School, p=0.003; Family, p=0.018; and Social, p=0.030 situations) and in SMQ total score (p<0.001). Conclusion: Our preliminary results may suggest the posi¬tive effect of the psychomotor approach in rehabilitative program for children affected by selective mutism, even if further researches are needed.