ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Pediatric Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1632058
This article is part of the Research TopicEmotional Impulsivity and Emotion Regulation Deficits as Important Factors in Clinically Challenging Behaviors in Psychiatric Disorders, Volume IIView all 5 articles
Clinical Correlates of Emotion Dysregulation in Down Syndrome: A Comparative Study
Provisionally accepted
- 1Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital (IRCCS), Rome, Lazio, Italy
- 2Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome, Rome, Sicily, Italy
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Introduction. Emotion regulation is crucial for mental health and adaptive psychological functioning. Despite growing interest in emotion dysregulation (ED) in individuals with intellectual disability (ID), little is known about its association with neuropsychological, and psychopathological profiles in children and adolescents with Down syndrome (DS), the most frequent genetic cause of ID. This study aimed to compare the neuropsychological profile, psychopathological symptoms, and sleep disturbances of children with DS with and without ED. Methods. Data were retrospectively collected from a database (6-18 years). The final sample included 214 participants: 69 with co-occurring ED and 145 controls without ED, with groups balanced for age and sex. Emotional/behavioral difficulties and sleep problems were assessed through parent-report questionnaires and clinical interviews. Language abilities and visual-motor integration skills were evaluated by standardized tests. Results. Children with co-occurring ED exhibited significantly worse visual-integration and motor coordination skills than children without co-occurring ED. Moreover, they displayed more psychopathological symptoms ascribable to both externalizing and internalizing problems. Finally, children with ED exhibited more sleep difficulties associated with insomnia and parasomnias. Conclusions. These results emphasize the need to consider ED in assessments and interventions, as it can significantly impact neuropsychological development and overall well-being.
Keywords: Emotion dysregulation, Lexical skills, trisomy 21, Internalizing and externalizing symptoms, Sleep disturbances, Visual-motor integration (VMI)
Received: 20 May 2025; Accepted: 09 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Fucà, Mongiovì, Vicari and Costanzo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Floriana Costanzo, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital (IRCCS), Rome, 00165, Lazio, Italy
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