No significant differences were noted at baseline between the two arms on all demographic measures or clinical characteristics. Fourteen (67%) of the 21 children who completed the 24-week Integrated Behavior Therapy for Selective Mutism pro- gram no longer met criteria for selective mutism, while no improvements in speaking behaviors were observed in the 12-week waitlist control group,χ2(1)9.69,p 0.002. A significantly higher response rate was seen in the Integrated Behavior Ther- apy for Selective Mutism arm at week 24 (75% vs. 0% in the waitlist control group at week 12),χ2(1)11.81,p0.001, as defined by receiving a rating of 1 (very much improved) or 2 (much improved) by an independent rater blind to treatment condi- tion on the Clinical Global Impression—Improvement scale (Guy & Bonato,1970).
Additionally, significant increases in the Selective Mutism Questionnaire (Bergman, Keller, Piacentini, & Bergman,2008) ratings were reported in the Integrated Behav- ior Therapy for Selective Mutism group from baseline (M 0.79;SD0.36) to week 24 (M 1.74;SD0.54),F1, 1131.08,p< 0.001,η2partial 0.74, while non-significant changes were noted in the waitlist control group,F1, 80.005,p n.s.,η2partial 0.001. Of note, although teachers reported significant improvements in speaking behaviors in children in the treatment group on the School Speech Ques- tionnaire (Bergman et al.,2001), they did not report significant changes in social anxiety symptoms as measured by the Social Anxiety Scale for Children Revised Teacher Version (La Greca & Stone,1993).
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