Adolescent adaptive behavior profiles in Williams\u2013Beuren syndrome, Down syndrome, and autism spectrum disorder

Carolina Grego Del Cole,Sheila Cavalcante Caetano,Arthur Melo E E Kümmer,Andrea Parolin Jackowski,Wagner Ribeiro

doi:10.1186/s13034-017-0177-0

Abstract

BackgroundAdaptive behavior can be impaired in different neurodevelopmental disorders and may be influenced by confounding factors, such as intelligence quotient (IQ) and socioeconomic classification. Our main objective was to verify whether adaptive behavior profiles differ in three conditions—Williams Beuren syndrome (WBS), Down syndrome (DS), and autism spectrum disorder (ASD), as compared with healthy controls (HC) and with each other. Although the literature points towards each disorder having a characteristic profile, no study has compared profiles to establish the specificity of each one. A secondary objective was to explore potential interactions between the conditions and socioeconomic status, and whether this had any effect on adaptive behavior profiles.MethodsOne hundred and five adolescents were included in the study. All adolescents underwent the following evaluations: the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale (VABS), the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC), and the Brazilian Economic Classification Criteria.ResultsOur results demonstrated that the WBS group performed better than the DS group in the communication domain, β = −15.08, t(3.45), p = .005, and better than the ASD group in the socialization domain, β = 8.92, t(−2.08), p = .013. The DS group also performed better than the ASD group in socialization, β = 16.98, t(−2.32), p = .024. IQ was an important confounding factor, and socioeconomic status had an important effect on the adaptive behavior of all groups.ConclusionsThere is a heterogeneity regarding adaptive behavior profiles in WBS, DS, and ASD. These data are important to better design specific strategies related to the health and social care of each particular group.

Highlights

Adaptive behavior can be impaired in different neurodevelopmental disorders and may be influenced by confounding factors, such as intelligence quotient (IQ) and socioeconomic classification
Sample characteristics There were no significant differences in age or socioeconomic class between diagnostic groups (WBS, Down syndrome (DS), and autism spectrum disorder (ASD)) and healthy controls (HC) (p > .05)
There was a significant difference in IQ between the HC and the diagnostic groups

Summary

Introduction

Adaptive behavior can be impaired in different neurodevelopmental disorders and may be influenced by confounding factors, such as intelligence quotient (IQ) and socioeconomic classification. Our main objective was to verify whether adaptive behavior profiles differ in three conditions—Williams Beuren syndrome (WBS), Down syndrome (DS), and autism spectrum disorder (ASD), as compared with healthy controls (HC) and with each other. This study proposed to analyze differences in the performance of adaptive behavior between groups with genetic syndromes and neuropsychiatric disorders, such as is the case for Williams–Beuren syndrome (WBS), Down syndrome (DS), and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). These groups were compared with a health control (HC) group. We chose to use VABS in this study because this instrument has been the most widely used of measures of adaptive functioning and semi-structured parent interview over checklists are less vulnerable to reporter bias [5]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion