Selective mutism in kindergarten children

Abstract

    Childhood is not a fleeting، short stage; rather، it is the foundation upon which a child's personality، society، and future are built. During this stage، values ​​and beliefs are formed، and emotions develop، shaping the personality that accompanies the child throughout their life. The research problem lies in the fact that selective silence is sometimes misunderstood by families and educators as extreme shyness preventing the child from communicating and expressing themselves with others. Despite the seriousness of this phenomenon and its educational and psychological repercussions، selective silence is still often interpreted as shyness or stubbornness، even though it is a disorder that children experience in the presence of others. Therefore، the problem lies in the need to study selective silence in kindergarten children and to uncover its psychological and educational dimensions، as well as the factors associated with it.

   The current research was limited to kindergarten children during the 2025-2026 academic year. To achieve the research objectives، the researcher developed a Selective Muting Scale consisting of 20 items. The scale's validity was verified by presenting it to a group of experts، and its suitability was confirmed. Furthermore، the researcher performed statistical analysis of the items using discriminatory power، which proved to be statistically significant and discriminatory. Thus، the final version consisted of 20 items with the response options (Agree، Uncertain، Disagree) and scores of 1، 2، and 3. The researcher also established the relationship between the item score and the total score. The scale's reliability was confirmed using the test-retest method، yielding a reliability coefficient of 0.98، indicating good reliability. The scale was administered to a randomly selected sample of 150 mothers of kindergarten children. The research yielded the following results:

1) The sample exhibits selective muting.

2) There are differences between males and females in the selective muting variable، favoring males.

3) There are differences among kindergarten children.