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The Interplay Between Anxiety and Social Functioning in Williams Syndrome

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Abstract

The developmental disorder Williams syndrome (WS) has been associated with an atypical social profile of hyper-sociability and heightened social sensitivity across the developmental spectrum. In addition, previous research suggests that both children and adults with WS have a predisposition towards anxiety. The current research aimed to explore the profiles of social behaviour and anxiety across a broad age range of individuals with the disorder (n = 59, ages 6–36 years). We used insights from parental reports on two frequently used measures, the Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale (SCAS-P) and the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS). Severity of anxiety was correlated with a greater degree of social dysfunction as measured by the SRS in this group. We split the group according to high or low anxiety as measured by the SCAS-P and explored the profile of social skills for the two groups. Individuals high and low in anxiety differed in their social abilities. The results emphasise the need to address anxiety issues in this disorder and to consider how components of anxiety might relate to other features of the disorder.

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Notes

  1. All were biological parents of the individuals with WS and all WS individuals lived with their parents. In all cases the same respondent answered both questionnaires.

  2. The 8 individuals who had not previously had their diagnosis confirmed with fluorescent in situ hybridisation testing to detect one deletion of the elastin gene were all older adults (>20 years) who were diagnosed prior to routine genetic testing for the disorder. The pattern of results remains consistent if these individuals are removed from the sample and therefore to allow us to analyse all available data these individuals have been left in the analysis.

  3. The pattern of results remains consistent if we only analyse the data for those participants for whom we have verbal and nonverbal ability measures.

  4. This correlation remains significant if T scores are used instead of SRS raw scores r = −.49, p < .001.

  5. We also calculated the gender difference using the T scores for the SRS as these have gender-specific norms and transformations. There was no difference between genders when using the T scores for the SRS Total t(57) = 1.05, p = .30, d = .27.

  6. We note caution due to the developmental difference between our sample and those reported elsewhere against which we are testing.

Abbreviations

SRS:

Social Responsiveness Scale

SCAS-P:

Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale Parent Measure

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank all the families and schools who participated in the research reported here.

Conflict of interest

The authors report no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Science Laboratories, Department of Psychology, Durham University, South Road, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK

    Deborah M. Riby & Mary Hanley

  2. School of Psychology, Queens University, Belfast, UK

    Mary Hanley, Linzi Kelso & Fionnuala O’Kane

  3. School of Psychology and Psychiatry, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia

    Deborah M. Riby, Hannah Kirk, Darren Hocking & Kim Cornish

  4. School of Psychology, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

    Fiona Clark, Katie Little, Ruth Fleck & Marianne Hvistendahl Allday

  5. Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

    Emily Janes, Rachel Cole-Fletcher & Jacqui Rodgers

  6. Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

    Emily Janes

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  1. Deborah M. Riby
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Correspondence to Deborah M. Riby.

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Riby, D.M., Hanley, M., Kirk, H. et al. The Interplay Between Anxiety and Social Functioning in Williams Syndrome. J Autism Dev Disord 44, 1220–1229 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-013-1984-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-013-1984-7

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