Turner Syndrome: Psychological Functioning Rated by Parents and by the Girls Themselves

Abstract

An improved understanding of the psychological aspects of Turner syndrome (TS) is important in order to optimize treatment and counseling. There is also a theoretical interest in a description of the psychosocial functioning associated with TS because this patient group could be considered as a model for the genetic and endocrine influences on human behavior. Knowledge of how patients cope with the impairments of TS may also contribute to our general understanding of psychological aspects of the functional impairment, and how people cope with chronic disorders. One question underlying the investigation of the psychological aspects of TS is whether there are specific difficulties and characteristics that are common to such individuals. Other questions relate to which effects are caused directly by the chromosome disorder (e.g., by genetic and endocrine factors), which are due to the psychological adaptation to such factors, and how the interplay between these factors can be understood.