• Current Research
• Services
• Faculty
• Graduate Students
• Undergrad Students
• Publications
• Announcements
• Links

Transition to Adolescence in Williams Syndrome: Behavior and Relationship Development

Research has suggested that many children with Williams syndrome show anxiety, irritability, and emotional outbursts, and that these are sometimes troubling to parents. We would like to better understand these emotional experiences and how they affect children with Williams syndrome and their families. We are studying how the behavior, emotion, and social relationships of children with Williams syndrome change in the transition from childhood to adolescence. We are interested in seeing children both with and without these kinds of difficulties, so that we get a good sense of the range of behavior in Williams syndrome.

Who can participate?

Children with Williams syndrome between the ages of 8 and 15 and their families.

What does participation involve?

Parents/caregivers will be asked to complete questionnaires about their child’s history, behavior, emotions, and relationships, and to participate in a structured clinical interview about their child. In addition, we ask that parents/caregivers provide questionnaires to teachers to be returned by mail. We will administer a videotaped measure of social communication and measures of intellectual functioning, receptive language, and planning and attention abilities to each child.

The time required for participation is approximately 2 hours with each child and 2 1/2 hours with parents/caregivers (some of which can occur at the same time). Questionnaires are expected to take approximately 90 minutes to complete and can be returned by mail.

Benefits:

If requested, parents can be provided with a summary of their child’s performance on the cognitive and language measures, as well as recommendations of strategies that may be helpful in navigating difficult behaviors. You will also be sent a summary of the results of the study when it is complete.

Where?

We invite families to participate by coming to the Child Neurodevelopment Research Lab at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. As an alternative, we will be traveling to Chicago and other metropolitan areas on a number of occasions in the coming months to allow area families the opportunity to participate closer to home, at a central, convenient location.

If you are interested in participating, or have questions about this study, please contact:

Bonnie Klein-Tasman, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology
University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee
414-229-3060
bklein@uwm.edu