Interactions between parenting styles, child anxiety, and oppositionality in selective mutism

Selective mutism (SM) is a poorly understood condition, and debate continues regarding its etiology and classification. Research suggests that a genetic vulnerability may play a role in the development of the disorder which may be compounded by anxious and over-protective parenting. While previous studies supported the role of parenting styles in the development of SM, most of them examined child and parent factors in isolation. The current study examined how the interactions between child internalizing and externalizing behaviors (anxiety and oppositionality, respectively) and parenting styles (authoritative, permissive, and authoritarian) are associated with SM diagnosis. The study included 285 children aged 3-7 years (57.2% females), and their parents (66 children with SM and 219 typically developed children). Parents completed questionnaires about child social anxiety, oppositional behavior, SM severity, and their parenting style. Results showed that parents of children with SM reported lower levels of authoritative practices than those of typically developed children. We also found that child social anxiety and oppositionality moderated the effects of authoritative and authoritarian parenting practices on SM diagnosis. Our results suggest that child anxiety and oppositionality may explain the different susceptibility of children to adaptive and maladaptive parenting styles.