THE FAMILY HISTORY OF CHILDREN WITH ELECTIVE MUTISM - A RESEARCH REPORT

The family history was studied in children with elective mutism. The s amples comprised a series of N=38 children with elective mutism and a control group of N=31 children with a similar behavioural phenotype, i .e., the combination of an emotional disorder and a developmental diso rder of articulation or expressive language. Interviews were performed with the respective mothers. There was a clear excess of the personal ity trait of taciturnity in first-, second-, and third-degree relative s. Although mutism was reported almost exclusively in the group of rel atives of children that manifested elective mutism, the differences be tween the two samples were not significant probably due to low frequen cies. Disorders of speech and language were quite common in the relati ves of subjects in both samples. Psychiatric disorders were more frequ ently reported in the families with an electively mute child. The stud y lends some evidence for the assumption that genetic factors may play a role in the etiology of elective mutism.