Williams syndrome (WS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder marked by a wide range of psychological symptoms. Multiple cognitive domains are affected and a specific type of social interaction. This study aimed to look at how WS patients adjust to their surroundings. Children with WS (n = 26), normally-developing children matched for mental age (MA, n = 30), and normally-developing children matched for chronological age (CA, n = 40) participated in a structured interview using the Infants-Junior Middle School Students Social-life Abilities Scale. Researchers compared mean scores for each domain between the three groups.
There were more siblings in the WS group than in the two control groups. The caregivers of WS children had a lower educational level than those of control children. The WS and MA groups had no locomotion, occupational skill, socializing, or self-management differences. When compared to MA children, WS children scored higher on self-dependence (df = 54, Z = -2.379, p = 0.017) and had better communication skills (df = 54, Z = -2.222, p = 0.026). For all measures of adaptive behavior, the CA children outperformed the WS children. WS children have greater communication and self-dependence adaptive behavior abilities than normal children of the same mental age. They developed targeted intervention strategies to encourage social development in this population.
Reference:bmcpediatr.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2431-14-90