Objective: To assess the incidence of selective mutism (SM) in West Jerusalem's state preschools and evaluate social anxiety/phobia disposition (SAP), social competence (SC), markers of neurodevelopmental delay/disorder (NDD), mothers' psychological adjustment, and marital conflict in immigrant and native children with SM and their matched controls. Method: Mothers of 9 immigrant and 10 native children with SM and their matched controls completed questionnaires evaluating themselves, their marriages, and their children. Results: A response rate of 30% (19/64) was obtained. The general prevalence of SM was 0.76%, while the rate among immigrants was 2.2%. Except for mothers' adjustment, all immigrant/native group effects were significant. There were significant interactions between the SM/control and immigrant/native groups for SAP, NDD, and SC. Immigrant children with SM had higher SAP and SC scores and lower NDD scores than native children with SM. Conclusions: This study distinguished between homogenous (socially anxious) and comorbid children with SM. In this sample, the disorder appeared to be associated with a combination of a specific diathesis (SAP) with intrinsic (NDD) and/or environmental (family immigration) vulnerabilities. Marital discord appeared to be a general risk factor for SM.

Selective mutism Immigration Marital conflict Anxiety

immigrant anxiety disorder Israel clinical feature human comorbidity controlled study priority journal Anxiety Disorders child behavior ethnology marriage Humans male preschool child female risk factor Risk Factors Child, Preschool questionnaire clinical article prevalence Incidence Article Family Relations migration family relation Emigration and Immigration mutism social behavior Child