ABSTRACT
Scattered reports over the past 20 years have suggested that Turner syndrome (TS) is associated with psychosocial difficulties, primarily involving immaturity and problems with social relationships (Downey, Ehrhardt, Gruen, Morishima, & Bell, 1986; Garron, Branda, & Lindsten, 1978; McCauley, Ito, & Kay, 1986; McCauley, Kay, Ito, & Treder, 1987). The relatively few studies that have investigated the psychiatric adjustment of children with the condition have had consistent findings. McCauley, Ross, Kushner, and Cuttler's (1995) controlled study of 97 girls with TS between 7 and 14 years of age, all of whom were due to take part in a trial of growth treatment across the United States, reported several important findings concerning quality of life (QOL). Firstly, the results confirmed previous work with smaller, more selective samples (Bender, Puck, Salbenblatt, & Robinson, 1987; Hier, 1980; McCauley et al., 1986; Swillen et al., 1993) and paralleled findings from a recent study of girls recruited throughout Canada (Rovet & Ireland, 1994). Subjects demonstrated immaturity, difficulties in social relationships, and poor self-concept relative to children of similar ages. Secondly, age-trends were identified. The Turner girls exhibited a decline in self-concept as they moved into adolescence. Thirdly, indicators of relatively good adjustment in the normal population such as IQ and socioeconomic status were not so predictive in the TS subjects. Further, within-group differences in stature, relative to the normal range, did not predict adjustment outcomes within this sample (McCauley et al., 1995).
