Behavioral Observation (BO) Coding Scheme

Abstract

The Behavioral Observation (BO) Coding Scheme, developed by Shorer et al. in 2023, is an original psychometric instrument designed to measure the behavioral manifestations of Selective Mutism (SM) in clinical settings. The BO utilizes nine items structured into distinct verbal and nonverbal scales, assessed during specific interactional tasks. Its primary focus is the objective measurement of observable anxiety expressions, such as limitations in speech volume or fluency versus avoidance of eye contact or restricted movement. The instrument was initially validated using a Hebrew-speaking, Jewish sample of children diagnosed with Selective Mutism and their primary caregivers in Israel. While factor analysis and internal consistency results demonstrated appropriate psychometric properties for the two derived scales, the authors note that inter-rater reliability data is currently unavailable, as the original study relied on a single evaluator for coding.

Keywords

Selective Mutism, Anxiety, Children, Verbal Behavior, Nonverbal Behavior, Behavioral Evaluation, Child Psychopathology, Mental Health Assessment, Coding Scheme

Authors

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

Purpose

The primary objective of the Behavioral Observation (BO) measure is to provide a standardized, observational method for quantifying the severity and specific presentation of Selective Mutism symptoms in children.

Specifically, the BO is designed to differentiate and quantify both verbal expressions of anxiety (e.g., restricted speech, low voice volume) and nonverbal expressions of anxiety (e.g., limited eye contact, restricted body movement) as they manifest during structured, interactive tasks involving both the parent and the evaluator.

Construct

The psychological construct measured by the BO is the observable behavioral manifestation of social Anxiety and behavioral inhibition characteristic of Selective Mutism (SM). The instrument operationalizes this construct across two dimensions: verbal interaction and nonverbal interaction.

The verbal subscale targets communication quality, including responsiveness, word count, voice volume, and speech fluency. The nonverbal subscale captures essential behavioral indicators of discomfort or avoidance, such as responsiveness during tasks, cooperation, eye contact, and general body movement (e.g., frozen or hyper behavior). This dual focus allows researchers and clinicians to obtain a comprehensive profile of SM symptomatology beyond mere absence of speech.

Validity

Specific measures of validity (such as convergent, divergent, or criterion validity) were not reported or indicated in the original documentation provided by the authors.

Reliability

The reliability of the BO Coding Scheme was assessed using internal consistency analysis, calculated via the corrected item-total correlation method.

Results indicated appropriate internal reliability for both subscales, based on statistical standards suggested by Kline (1993). For the verbal scale items, correlations ranged between 0.50 and 0.82. For the nonverbal scale items, correlations ranged from 0.50 to 0.88. A noted limitation by the original authors is the absence of inter-rater reliability data, as all behavioral observations were coded by a single evaluator in the foundational study.

Factor Analysis

An Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was conducted separately for the items belonging to the verbal and nonverbal scales to confirm the underlying dimensional structure of the measure.

The EFA performed on the verbal scale yielded a strong single-factor solution, accounting for 67.59% of the total variance. Factor loadings for individual items within this scale were robust, ranging from 0.60 to 0.90. Similarly, the EFA for the nonverbal scale also confirmed a unidimensional structure, resulting in a single-factor solution that explained a high proportion of the variance (71.99%). Item factor loadings for the nonverbal scale ranged from 0.63 to 0.93. These findings support the conceptualization of the BO as consisting of two statistically distinct, but internally consistent, factors representing verbal and nonverbal anxiety behaviors related to SM.

Instrument

Test Type: Original Coding Scheme

Format: The Behavioral Observation (BO) is an observational Coding Scheme utilizing a set of nine items categorized into two subscales (Verbal and Nonverbal) to rate a child’s behavior during specific, structured interactional tasks.

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 measure was developed and tested on children aged 3.5 to 8.5 years located in Israel. The original sample consisted of a Hebrew-speaking, Jewish population of children formally 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

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

The BO Coding Scheme was developed in 2023. Permissions for use must be obtained by contacting the corresponding author, Maayan Shorer.

• Permissions: Contact Corresponding Author

• Commercial Use: No

• Fee: No

• Test Year: 2023

Reference’s

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

Items of the Behavioral Observation (BO) Coding Scheme

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

This measure consists of nine items in total, divided into two subscales: Verbal and Non-verbal.

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).