Anxiety in Williams Syndrome: Beyond
Diagnoses to Broader Conceptual and
Therapeutic Challenges
-
1
Vanderbilt University, Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development, United States
This presentation reviews salient aspects of anxiety in people with Williams syndrome, thereby setting the stage for subsequent papers in this section of the conference. In reviewing findings to date, we provide a brief summary of our research on anxiety in persons with Williams syndrome. Beyond specific findings, however, this presentation also addresses broader methodological and conceptual complexities involved in research on psychopathology in persons with intellectual or developmental disabilities.
Non-social anxiety in people with Williams syndrome is increasingly well-studied using psychiatric nosology, standardized behavioral measures, and fMRI techniques (Dykens, 2003; Lefyer et al, 2006; Meyer-Lindberg et al., 2005). We recently extended these observations by examining correlates of anxiety in 35 adults with Williams syndrome (M age = 24 years; 19M, 16F). We did not find strong associations between anxiety in WS adults and their medical status or history, family psychiatric histories, or current maternal anxiety. Compared to males, females generally had higher levels of anxiety, depression, and salivary cortisol levels. In ongoing fMRI studies, we are also examining neurological aspects of anxiety. We find that the amygdala and areas implicated in empathy are differentially activated in WS subjects versus typical controls in response to viewing anxiety-provoking faces and images. We also find evidence for increased functional connectivity between sensory cortices in Williams syndrome.
Beyond these studies, this presentation also addresses broader conceptual and methodological issues involved in the study of anxiety or other psychiatric problems in persons with Williams syndrome or other developmental disabilities. These broader points will address: issues related to the accurate diagnosis or measurement of symptoms in persons with cognitive and developmental delay; the extent to which risk and protective factors for psychiatric illness in the general population apply to those with Williams syndrome or other disabilities; and disparities in basic psychiatric research or treatment studies in those with disabilities versus the general population. Solutions for closing these psychiatric research and treatment gaps will be discussed in relation to Williams syndrome.
Acknowledgements: This work was supported by the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development’s NICHD Grant P30HD15052; a Vanderbilt University Discovery Grant, the Biobehavioral Intervention Training Program, NIH Roadmap Post-Doctoral Training Grant; and the Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research. Special thanks to Elizabeth Roof, Tricia Thornton-Wells, and the staff, families, and campers involved in the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center’s Williams Syndrome Music Camp.
Conference:
12th International Professional Conference on Williams Syndrome, Garden Grove,CA, United States, 13 Jul - 14 Jul, 2008.
Presentation Type:
Oral Presentation
Topic:
SESSION 5: Anxiety and Other Psychiatric Problems
Citation:
Dykens
EM
(2009). Anxiety in Williams Syndrome: Beyond
Diagnoses to Broader Conceptual and
Therapeutic Challenges.
Conference Abstract:
12th International Professional Conference on Williams Syndrome.
doi: 10.3389/conf.neuro.09.2009.07.014
Copyright:
The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers.
They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters.
The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated.
Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed.
For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions.
Received:
30 Apr 2009;
Published Online:
30 Apr 2009.
*
Correspondence:
E. M Dykens, Vanderbilt University, Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development, Nashville, United States, elisabeth.dykens@vanderbilt.edu