Visuo-spatial cognition in Williams syndrome: Reviewing and accounting for the strengths and weaknesses in performance

Individuals with Williams syndrome typically show relatively poor visuo-spatial abilities in comparison to stronger verbal skills. However, individuals' level of performance is not consistent across all visuo-spatial tasks. The studies assessing visuo-spatial functioning in Williams syndrome are critically reviewed, in order to provide a clear pattern of the relative difficulty of these tasks. This prompts a possible explanation of the variability in performance seen which focuses on the processing demands of some of these tasks. Individuals with Williams syndrome show an atypical processing style on tests of construction, which does not affect tests of perception

Mental Health Problems among Children One-Year after Sichuan Earthquake in China: A Follow-up Study

Background: On May 12, 2008, a destructive earthquake registering 8.0 on the Richter scale struck Sichuan Province, southwest China. Beichuan County was the epicenter which was one of the areas nearly completely destroyed by the earthquake. In Beichuan, about 15000 people died and 3000 people were missing. Specially, the earthquake took 1587 students' and 214 teachers' lives from the elementary and middle schools there. The main purpose of the study was to provide a better understanding of mental health problems and associated risk factors among children after earthquake

Interpretation of ambiguous situations: evidence for a dissociation between social and physical threat in Williams syndrome

There is increasing evidence that Williams syndrome (WS) is associated with elevated anxiety that is non-social in nature, including generalised anxiety and fears. To date very little research has examined the cognitive processes associated with this anxiety. In the present research, attentional bias for non-social threatening images in WS was examined using a dot-probe paradigm. Participants were 16 individuals with WS aged between 13 and 34 years and two groups of typically developing controls matched to the WS group on chronological age and attentional control ability respectively. The WS group exhibited a significant attention bias towards threatening images. In contrast, no bias was found for group matched on attentional control and a slight bias away from threat was found in the chronological age matched group. The results are contrasted with recent findings suggesting that individuals with WS do not show an attention bias for threatening faces and discussed in relation to neuroimaging research showing elevated amygdala activation in response to threatening non-social scenes in WS

Anxiety disorders in children with Williams syndrome, their mothers, and their siblings: Implications for the etiology of anxiety disorders

This study examines the prevalence of anxiety disorders in children with Williams syndrome (WS), their sibling closest in age, and their mothers as well as the predictors of anxiety in these groups. The prevalence of anxiety disorders was assessed and compared to that in the general population. Children with WS had a significantly higher prevalence of specific phobia, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and separation anxiety in comparison to children in the general population. While mothers had a higher prevalence of GAD than population controls, the excess was accounted for by mothers who had onset after the birth of their WS child. The siblings had rates similar to the general population. This pattern of findings suggests the presence of a gene in the WS region whose deletion predisposes to anxiety disorders. It is also worthwhile to investigate relations between genes deleted in WS and genes previously implicated in anxiety disorders

Uncommon genetic syndromes and narrative production - Case Studies with Williams, Smith-Magenis and Prader- Willi Syndromes

This study compares narrative production among three syndromes with genetic microdeletions: Williams syndrome (WS), Smith-Magenis syndrome (SMS), and Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS), characterized by intellectual disabilities and relatively spared language abilities. Our objective is to study the quality of narrative production in the context of a common intellectual disability. To elicit a narrative production, the task Frog! Where Are You was used. Then, structure, process, and content of the narrative process were analysed in the three genetic disorders:WS (n52), SMS (n52), and PWS (n52). Data show evidence of an overall low narrative quality in these syndromes, despite a high variability within different measures of narrative production. Results support the hypothesis that narrative is a highly complex cognitive process and that, in a context of intellectual disability, there is no evidence of particular ‘hypernarrativity’ in these syndromes.This research was supported by the grants FEDER –

Treating children traumatized by war and Tsunami: A comparison between exposure therapy and meditation-relaxation in North-East Sri Lanka

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The North-Eastern part of Sri Lanka had already been affected by civil war when the 2004 Tsunami wave hit the region, leading to high rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in children. In the acute aftermath of the Tsunami we tested the efficacy of two pragmatic short-term interventions when applied by trained local counselors.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A randomized treatment comparison was implemented in a refugee camp in a severely affected community. 31 children who presented with a preliminary diagnosis of PTSD were randomly assigned either to six sessions Narrative Exposure Therapy for children (KIDNET) or six sessions of meditation-relaxation (MED-RELAX). Outcome measures included severity of PTSD symptoms, level of functioning and physical health.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In both treatment conditions, PTSD symptoms and impairment in functioning were significantly reduced at one month post-test and remained stable over time. At 6 months follow-up, recovery rates were 81% for the children in the KIDNET group and 71% for those in the MED-RELAX group. There was no significant difference between the two therapy groups in any outcome measure.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>As recovery rates in the treatment groups exceeded the expected rates of natural recovery, the study provides preliminary evidence for the effectiveness of NET as well as meditation-relaxation techniques when carried out by trained local counselors for the treatment of PTSD in children in the direct aftermath of mass disasters.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:NCT00820391</p

Language and sociability: insights from Williams syndrome

One of the most compelling features of Williams syndrome (WS) is the widely reported excessive sociability, accompanied by a relative proficiency in expressive language, which stands in stark contrast with significant intellectual and nonverbal impairments. It has been proposed that the unique language skills observed in WS are implicated in the strong drive to interact and communicate with others, which has been widely documented in WS. Nevertheless, this proposition has yet to be empirically examined. The present study aimed at investigating the relationship between a brain index of language processing and judgments of approachability of faces, as a proxy for sociability, in individuals with WS as contrasted to typical controls. Results revealed a significant and substantial association between the two in the WS, but not in the control group, supporting the hitherto untested notion that language use in WS might be uniquely related to their excessive social drive

Life Events, Coping, and Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms among Chinese Adolescents Exposed to 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake, China

PURPOSE: To examine the relationship between negative life events, coping styles, and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among adolescent survivors exposed to 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake, China. METHODS: A survey was conducted in a sample of 2250 adolescent students from two schools in Dujiangyan District, a seriously damaged area, 20 kilometers away from the epicenter, 6 months after the earthquake. Participants completed a self-administered questionnaire including demographics, negative life events, coping styles, and PTSD symptoms. RESULTS: Academic pressure was the strongest predictor of adolescents' PTSD symptoms among all negative life events. Main effects of negative life events, positive coping and negative coping on PTSD symptoms were significant in both younger adolescents and older adolescents, while the moderator effects of two coping styles were found significant only within older adolescents. CONCLUSIONS: Coping may play a role to moderate the relationship between post-earthquake negative life events and PTSD symptom, but the function seems to depend on the age of participants. Psychosocial coping skills training may be important in the prevention and intervention of mental health problems in adolescent survivors of traumatic earthquake

Anxiety Disorders in Williams Syndrome Contrasted with Intellectual Disability and the General Population: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Individuals with specific genetic syndromes associated with intellectual disability (ID), such as Williams syndrome (WS), are at increased risk for developing anxiety disorders. A systematic literature review identified sixteen WS papers that could generate pooled prevalence estimates of anxiety disorders for WS. A meta-analysis compared these estimates with prevalence estimates for the heterogeneous ID population and the general population. Estimated rates of anxiety disorders in WS were high. WS individuals were four times more likely to experience anxiety than individuals with ID, and the risk was also heightened compared to the general population. The results provide further evidence of an unusual profile of high anxiety in WS

Repetitive Behavior in Rubinstein–Taybi Syndrome:Parallels with Autism Spectrum Phenomenology

Syndrome specific repetitive behavior profiles have been described previously. A detailed profile is absent for Rubinstein–Taybi syndrome (RTS). The Repetitive Behaviour Questionnaire and Social Communication Questionnaire were completed for children and adults with RTS (N = 87), Fragile-X (N = 196) and Down (N = 132) syndromes, and individuals reaching cut-off for autism spectrum disorder (N = 228). Total and matched group analyses were conducted. A phenotypic profile of repetitive behavior was found in RTS. The majority of behaviors in RTS were not associated with social-communication deficits or degree of disability. Repetitive behavior should be studied at a fine-grained level. A dissociation of the triad of impairments might be evident in RTS