title: Behavioral Profiles of Children With Williams Syndrome From Spain and the United States: Cross-Cultural Similarities and Differences.
abstract: To identify similarities and differences in the behavioral profile of children with Williams syndrome from Spain (n = 53) and the United States (n = 145), we asked parents of 6- to 14-year-olds with Williams syndrome 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 all of the higher-order factors and half of both the empirically based and Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (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.
authors.affiliation: D ébora Pérez-García, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Institut Hospital del Mar d'Investigacions Mèdiques (IMIM), Barcelona, Spain, and University of Louisville, USA.
authors.forename: Débora
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pérez-García
authors.affiliation: Carme Brun-Gasca, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Carme
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Brun-Gasca
authors.affiliation: Luis A. Pérez-Jurado, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Institut Hospital del Mar d'Investigacions Mèdiques (IMIM), Barcelona, Spain; and.
authors.forename: Luis A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Pérez-Jurado
authors.affiliation: Carolyn B. Mervis, University of Louisville, USA.
authors.forename: Carolyn B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Mervis
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D057189:Checklist; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence; D008297:Male; D000066553:Problem Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012920:Social Behavior Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D013030:Spain; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D018980:Williams Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: Child Behavior Checklist; Williams syndrome; Williams-Beuren syndrome; behavior; cross-cultural; intellectual disability