For the study of the personality profile of youngsters with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS), a PWS group was compared with a matched group of youngsters attending regular school. The PWS group consisted of 28 youngsters (12 males and 16 females; mean age 11 years, 11 months). These youngsters were matched on gender and age level with 28 youngsters out of a group of 333 youngsters in regular school. Behaviour and personality characteristics of each youngster in both groups were described by both parents, using a Dutch version of the California Child Q-set (CCQ; Block & Block 1980). The present authors compared the scores of both groups on eight personality dimensions, derived from the aggregated CCQ-descriptions for fathers and mothers. The personality dimensions were Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, Openness, Motor Activity, Irritability and Dependency. The authors investigated further individual differences of PWS youngsters on the same eight CCQ personality dimensions, considering gender and age level as well as IQ level and the presence or absence of a 15q11-q13 deletion. The personality profile of PWS youngsters was markedly different from youngsters in regular school. Some personality characteristics were related to gender and IQ. The lower level of physical activity in PWS girls without 15q11-q13 deletion needs further study.

Purpose: Children with type 1 diabetes need to self-manage their illness to minimize its impact on their long-term health. However, because children are still developing cognitively and emotionally, self-management is challenging. The European FP7 project, ALIZ-E, looks at how social robots can support children aged 8-12 years with their diabetes self-management. To acquire user requirements for such a robot, we studied how diabetes self-management is organized for children and how they experience their illness and its management regarding their quality of life. Methods: We conducted semistructured interviews with diabetes caregivers (n = 6) and children 8-12 with type 1 diabetes (n = 9), and surveyed their parents (n = 9). Results: Results of the interviews with caregivers show that parents play a prominent role in diabetes self-management and, accordingly, children do not experience significant problems. However, because children develop a need for autonomy during puberty, it is important that they become more proficient in their self-management at an earlier age. Results of the interviews with children show that they accept diabetes as a part of their life and want to be seen as regular children. Also, children experience difficulties in unusual situations (eg, doing sports and vacationing) and at school. The illness comes at the cost of the child's mental wellbeing (eg, insecurity, fear, and worry) and physical well-being (eg, listlessness and tiredness). Regarding social well-being, children enjoy attending diabetes camps and having friends with diabetes, due to a common understanding of their condition. Finally, parents are not always fully aware of how children experience their illness. Conclusion: Children could benefit from social robots offering motivation, training, and (parental) monitoring and support, and serving as a fallback for uncommon events. To prevent stigmatization, the robot would need to act as a buddy and not as a support tool in the management of diabetes.