Behavioral Profiles of 6 – 14 Year-Old Children with Williams Syndrome from Spain and the United States: Cross-Cultural Similarities and Differences

摘要

To identify similarities and differences in the behavioral profile of children with Williams syndrome from Spain and the United States, we asked parents of 6 – 14-year-olds from Spain (n=53) and the United States (n=145) 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 half of both the empirically-based and 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.