ADHD, major depressive disorder, and simple phobias are prevalent psychiatric conditions in youth with velocardiofacial syndrome

Abstract

Objective: To examine prevalence rates of psychopathology in children with velocardiofacial syndrome (VCFS).

Method: One hundred fifty-four children ages 6 to 15 participated in our between-group design with three samples, 84 children with VCFS (37 girls, 47 boys), 32 sibling controls (18 girls, 14 boys), and 38 community controls (12 girls, 26 boys). The Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children-Present and Lifetime version and several other parent report measures were used to assess for psychopathology.

Results: Compared to both control samples, children with VCFS had higher prevalence rates of major depressive disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, simple phobias, and enuresis. Additional findings from our analyses include (1) no gender differences in VCFS psychopathology prevalence rates, (2) children with VCFS who have comorbid psychopathology were rated by their parents as having less well-developed executive functions, and (3) across all three samples, the higher the IQ was, the higher the level of global functioning.

Conclusions: These findings are consistent with previous research and suggest that major depressive disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and simple phobias are salient features of the VCFS psychiatric phenotype.