ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews research on the psychological development of women with Turner syndrome (TS). It provides a comprehensive overview of the literature, analyses the consistency of findings across studies and samples, and explores explanatory models. The chapter focuses on the investigations that have evaluated groups of women with TS in an effort to identify characteristic behavioral patterns. Individuals with TS provide a unique opportunity to study the impact of sex chromosome anomalies on subsequent growth and development. Samples of women with TS are therefore more heterogeneous than is ideal, and small sample size prohibits detailed analyses of more homogeneous subgroups. While findings have also consistently supported a heterosexual orientation for developing girls and women with TS, sexual drive in adult women has been described as low. V. Taipale conducted an in-depth psychiatric and psychosocial evaluation of 49 girls and adolescents with TS to assess the impact of hormone replacement on adolescent development.
