Anxiety, Depression, and Social Skills in Girls with Fragile X Syndrome: Understanding the Cycle to Improve Outcomes.
Amy A Lightbody, Kristi L Bartholomay, Tracy L Jordan and 3 others
PMID 36219483WHAT IT FOUND
Girls with Fragile X Syndrome showed similar anxiety and depression levels to matched peers overall, but those aged 10.5 and older had significantly higher withdrawal, depression, and social avoidance.
Poor social communication skills correlated with worse mood and quality of life specifically in this older group.
Key findings
01There were no significant group differences for anxiety or depression when examining the whole sample irrespective of age.
02Girls with FXS aged 10.5 and older demonstrated significantly higher rates of withdrawal, depression, and social avoidance than their younger counterparts, a pattern not seen in the comparison group.
03For girls with FXS, poorer social communication skills (ADOS-2 Social Affect) were significantly associated with higher anxiety and depression and lower quality of life, particularly in the older cohort.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study is cross-sectional, so it cannot confirm developmental trajectories or causality. The comparison group was heterogeneous, consisting of girls with various learning and developmental disabilities, not a typically developing control group. Pubertal staging was based on parent report rather than clinical examination. A small number of participants had Tanner stage scores that did not align perfectly with their chronological age, requiring subjective grouping decisions.
Declared interests
All authors report no conflicts of interest. The study was supported by NIH and U.S. Government grants.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that girls with FXS have higher anxiety or depression than their developmentally matched peers overall. The study found no significant group differences in these domains when age was not considered; the elevated symptoms were specific to the older cohort with FXS.