Behavioral Profiles of Children With Williams Syndrome From Spain and the United States: Cross-Cultural Similarities and Differences

Am J Intellect Dev Disabil. 2017 Mar;122(2):156-172. doi: 10.1352/1944-7558-122.2.156.

Abstract

To identify similarities and differences in the behavioral profile of children with Williams syndrome from Spain (n = 53) and the United States (n = 145), we asked parents of 6- to 14-year-olds with Williams syndrome to complete the Child Behavior Checklist 6-18. The distribution of raw scores was significantly higher for the Spanish sample than the American sample for all of the higher-order factors and half of both the empirically based and Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)-oriented scales. In contrast, analyses based on country-specific T-scores indicated that the distribution for the Spanish sample was significantly higher than for the American sample only on the Social Problems scale. No gender differences were found. Genetic and cultural influences on children's behavior and cultural influences on parental ratings of behavior are discussed.

Keywords: Child Behavior Checklist; Williams syndrome; Williams-Beuren syndrome; behavior; cross-cultural; intellectual disability.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Age Factors
  • Checklist
  • Child
  • Child Behavior Disorders / diagnosis*
  • Child Behavior Disorders / psychology*
  • Cross-Cultural Comparison*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Intelligence
  • Male
  • Problem Behavior / psychology*
  • Psychometrics / statistics & numerical data
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Social Behavior Disorders / diagnosis*
  • Social Behavior Disorders / psychology*
  • Spain
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • United States
  • Williams Syndrome / diagnosis*
  • Williams Syndrome / psychology*