Abstract
The behavioral phenotype of Williams syndrome (WS) is characterized by difficulties with establishment and maintenance of friendships despite high levels of interest in social interaction. Here, parents and teachers rated 84 children with WS ages 4–16 years using two commonly-used measures assessing aspects of social functioning: the Social Skills Rating System and the Social Responsiveness Scale. Mean prosocial functioning fell in the low average to average range, whereas social reciprocity was perceived to be an area of significant difficulty for many children. Concordance between parent and teacher ratings was high. Patterns of social functioning are discussed. Findings highlight the importance of parsing the construct of social skills to gain a nuanced understanding of the social phenotype in WS.
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Acknowledgments
This research was supported by grant NIMH R03 MH069400, a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Graduate School Research Committee Award, and a Research Scholar grant from the Center for Addition and Behavioral Health Research. We would also like to thank Frank Gallo and Kristin Phillips for assistance with data collection and to Molly Barton, Amy Sietenzahl, and Jesse Behagen scoring and checking of data. Portions of this research were included in Kirsten Li-Barber’s Dissertation and in Erin Magargee’s Senior Thesis and were presented at the Society for Research in Child Development, the International Neuropsychological Society, and Association for Psychological Sciences meetings.
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Klein-Tasman, B.P., Li-Barber, K.T. & Magargee, E.T. Honing in on the Social Phenotype in Williams Syndrome Using Multiple Measures and Multiple Raters. J Autism Dev Disord 41, 341–351 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-010-1060-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-010-1060-5