Voice Volume Feedback and In Vivo Exposure Intervention for a High School Student With Selective Mutism

抄録

A person with selective mutism (SM) in adolescence sometimes reveals group adaptation difficulties such as school absenteeism, as well as other associated psychopathological symptoms such as depression; and thus their condition is typically highly complex. In this study, a high school student with SM, who experienced associated symptoms of school absenteeism, social anxiety, and depression besides suppression of speech and movement, was given feedback on voice volume after reading aloud and subjected to an in vivo exposure technique. In the voice volume feedback, as a result, the student's voice volume improved by 10 dB compared to the beginning of the study and became loud enough to be easily heard. In addition, anxiety scores on speech and activity decreased, and the number of responses to the counselors increased. However, the treatment cannot be considered adequate since the student spoke only in a low voice and less frequently even after the treatment. Nonetheless, recovery from SM in adolescence is deemed difficult; thus, the intervention introduced in this study may be inferred to have had measurably positive effects.