Friendships in Children with Williams Syndrome: Parent and Child Perspectives

Abstract

Although children with Williams syndrome (WS) are strongly socially motivated, many have friendship difficulties. The parents of 21 children with WS and 20 of the children themselves participated in a semi-structured interview about the children’s friendships. Parents reported that their child had difficulties sustaining friendships and low levels of interaction with peers. Barriers to friendships included difficulties with play and self-regulating behaviour. However, there was within-group variability, with a small number of children reported to have strong friendships. While parents reported friendship challenges, all of the children named at least one friend, and most said that they had never felt excluded by their peers. Future research is needed to determine optimal ways to support children with WS in their friendships.

Psychiatric and behavioral manifestations of Williams syndrome

“…A significant improvement in social skills knowledge scores was also observed postintervention. Interestingly, adults with Williams syndrome rated their social skills nearly 20 points higher than their parents did preintervention and the participant-rated scores did not change significantly postintervention, suggesting that similar to children [20 ▪ ], adults with Williams syndrome may be unreliable raters of their own social behaviors.…”

“…The impact of the atypical social phenotype of Williams syndrome on social functioning, as well as intervention development, has also progressed in recent years. Gillooly et al [20 ▪ ] conducted a qualitative study, utilizing semi-structured interviews to explore parent and child perceptions of peer relationships in 21 youth with Williams syndrome (age range: 7–16 years). The majority of parents reported that their child had difficulties sustaining friendships and had low levels of interactions with peers.…”

“…repeated greetings, following people), difficulty with interactive play or preference for solo play, and a lack of shared interests with peers. Semi-structured interviews conducted with children with Williams syndrome revealed difficulty understanding the complexities of friendships and limited self-awareness of friendship challenges [20 ▪ ]. Parents reported that peer relationships became more challenging with age, for example as peers gained increased levels of independence (e.g.…”

“…Parents reported that peer relationships became more challenging with age, for example as peers gained increased levels of independence (e.g. using public transportation or swimming without supervision) or developed more mature interests [20 ▪ ]. Considering that the gap between children with Williams syndrome and their peers expands with age, and that adults with Williams syndrome often suffer from poor social relationships [21], social skills training for both children and adults is an important area for intervention.…”