Behavioral profiles of children with Williams syndrome from Spain and the United States: cross-cultural similarities and differences

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.Débora Pérez-García was supported by a predoctoral fellowship from Instituto de Salud Carlos III (FI11/00656). Data collection for the Spanish sample was supported by grants from the Spanish Ministries of Science, Economy & Competitivity (SAF04/6382 & PI13/02481) and the European Community (EC-FP6-37627) to Luis A. Pérez-Jurado. Data collection for the US sample was supported by grants from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R37 HD29957) and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (R01 NS35102) to Carolyn Mervis. Data analysis and manuscript preparation were supported by NICHD grant R37 HD29957 and grant WSA 0104 from the Williams Syndrome Association to Carolyn Mervi