Behavioral Observation (BO) Coding Scheme

Abstract

The Behavioral Observation (BO; Shorer et al., 2023) was developed as an original coding scheme to measure Selective Mutism (SM) in specific interactional tasks. This instrument is designed to assess both verbal and nonverbal expressions of anxiety, such as limited speech versus limited eye contact, within verbal and nonverbal interactions. The BO was created for a study involving a Hebrew-speaking, Jewish sample of children diagnosed with SM and their primary caregivers. The current construct was measured using nine items inspired by the behavioral evaluation suggested by Bergman et al. (2013), though its interactional tasks and scoring method are original. Factor analysis and reliability results have been reported for these items. The authors noted that, as the BO was coded by a single evaluator, inter-rater reliability data is not available.

Keywords

Selective Mutism; Anxiety; Children; Verbal; Non-Verbal; Behavioral Evaluation

Authors

Shorer, Maayan; Ben-Haim, Zivit; Krispin, Orit; Ben-Ami, Noam; Fennig, Silvana

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Purpose

The primary purpose of this observational measure is to assess both verbal and nonverbal expressions of anxiety, including aspects like limited speech versus limited eye contact, during both verbal and nonverbal interactions.

Validity

No validity is indicated.

Reliability

The internal consistency was calculated using the corrected item-total correlation. For the verbal scale items, the correlation ranged between 0.50 to 0.82, and for the nonverbal scale items, it ranged from 0.50 to 0.88, which is considered appropriate according to Kline (1993).

Factor Analysis

An Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) for the verbal scale yielded a single-factor solution, which accounted for 67.59% of the variance. The factor loadings for the items in this scale ranged from 0.60 to 0.90. Similarly, EFA for the nonverbal scale also resulted in a single-factor solution, explaining 71.99% of the variance, with item factor loadings ranging from 0.63 to 0.93.

Instrument: Behavioral Observation (BO)

Test Type

Original Coding Scheme

Format

The Behavioral Observation (BO) utilizes a coding scheme for both verbal and non-verbal interactions.

Verbal ratings are coded as follows:

• Child’s responsiveness: 0 = didn’t answer, 1 = answered the parent, 2 = answered the evaluator.

• Word number: 0 = no words, 1 = single word, 2 = two words, 3 = short sentence.

• Voice volume: 0 = no volume, 1 = weak, 2 = medium, 3 = regular.

• Speech fluency: 0 = lack of fluency, 1 = partial fluency, 2 = intact fluency.

• Eye contact: 0 = avoided, 1 = alternated, 2 = direct.

• Movement: 0 = frozen/hyper, 1 = limited, 2 = unlimited.
  Scores for the verbal interaction scale range from 0 (low) to 70 (high).

Non-verbal ratings are coded as follows:

• Child’s responsiveness: 0 = didn’t take the ball, 1 = took the ball from the parent, 2 = took the ball from the evaluator.

• Cooperation with the task: 0 = didn’t play, 1 = played with the parent, 2 = played with the evaluator.

• Eye contact: 0 = avoided, 1 = alternated, 2 = direct.

• Movement: 0 = frozen/hyper, 1 = limited, 2 = unlimited.
  The nonverbal interaction scale is calculated by summing these ratings and ranges from 0 (low) to 8 (high).

Language Available

Hebrew (Original language), English (Language Present in some documentation).

Population Group

Human; Male; Female

Age Group

• Childhood (birth-12 yrs)

• Preschool Age (2-5 yrs)

• School Age (6-12 yrs)

Population Details

The respondents for this measure were children aged 3.5-8.5 years, located in Israel. The original study focused on a Hebrew-speaking, Jewish sample of children diagnosed with Selective Mutism (SM) and their primary care-giving parent.

Test Methodology

The development and evaluation of the BO involved:

• Test Reliability

• Internal Consistency analysis

• Factor Analysis, specifically Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA).

Keywords

Selective Mutism; Anxiety; Children; Verbal; Non-Verbal; Behavioral Evaluation; Child Psychopathology; Mental Health and Illness Assessment; Child Behavior

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Authors

Author ORCID Identifier

No data is Available.

Affiliation Email addresses

• Shorer, Maayan: [email protected]

• Ben-Haim, Zivit: No data is Available.

• Krispin, Orit: No data is Available.

• Ben-Ami, Noam: No data is Available.

• Fennig, Silvana: No data is Available.

Correspondence Address

Shorer, Maayan: [email protected]

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

• Permissions: Contact Corresponding Author

• Commercial Use: No

• Fee: No

• Test Year: 2023

References

Shorer, M., Ben-Haim, Z., Krispin, O., Ben-Ami, N., & Fennig, S. (2023). Parents’ social anxiety, authority style and accommodation are associated with symptom severity in children with selective mutism. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 32(9), 2748–2760. doi:10.1007/s10826-023-02555-7

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Items of the Behavioral Observation (BO)

This measure consists of nine items in total, divided into two subscales: Verbal and Non-verbal.
Test items are not available in the provided text.