Anxiety and autonomic response to social-affective stimuli in individuals with Williams syndrome.
In Williams syndrome, higher self-reported anxiety pairs with lower body arousal to angry social cues.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Rowena’s team showed angry, happy, and neutral faces and voices to the adults with Williams syndrome and 22 typical adults.
They taped heart and skin sensors to each person to see how their body reacted.
Each person also filled out a short anxiety checklist.
What they found
Both groups had the same heart rate and skin-conductance jumps.
Inside the WS group only, people who said they were more anxious had smaller body jumps when they saw angry faces or heard angry voices.
High anxiety in WS was linked to a calm body, not a racing one.
How this fits with other research
South et al. (2017) saw the same calm-body pattern in kids with autism: low skin response to social threat.
Kaartinen et al. (2016) looked at autism and found the opposite link: kids whose bodies stayed aroused longer during eye contact had worse social trouble.
The two 2016 studies seem to clash—one says less arousal goes with more anxiety, the other says more arousal goes with more social trouble.
The gap is about diagnosis and task: Rowena used angry faces in WS; Miia used direct gaze in ASD. Different triggers, different syndromes, different stories.
Symons (2019) summed up prior autism work and found no clear body-anxiety rule, so the calm-body link in WS is a new, syndrome-specific clue.
Why it matters
When you assess anxiety in Williams syndrome, do not expect a fast heart rate or sweaty palms. Ask about feelings and watch behavior instead. If a client with WS looks calm but reports worry, believe them and teach coping skills before social groups or job interviews.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Williams syndrome (WS) is a genetic condition characterized by an unusual "hypersocial" personality juxtaposed by high anxiety. Recent evidence suggests that autonomic reactivity to affective face stimuli is disorganised in WS, which may contribute to emotion dysregulation and/or social disinhibition. METHODS: Electrodermal activity (EDA) and mean interbeat interval (IBI) of 25 participants with WS (19 - 57 years old) and 16 typically developing (TD; 17-43 years old) adults were measured during a passive presentation of affective face and voice stimuli. The Beck Anxiety Inventory was administered to examine associations between autonomic reactivity to social-affective stimuli and anxiety symptomatology. RESULTS: The WS group was characterized by higher overall anxiety symptomatology, and poorer anger recognition in social visual and aural stimuli relative to the TD group. No between-group differences emerged in autonomic response patterns. Notably, for participants with WS, increased anxiety was uniquely associated with diminished arousal to angry faces and voices. In contrast, for the TD group, no associations emerged between anxiety and physiological responsivity to social-emotional stimuli. CONCLUSIONS: The anxiety associated with WS appears to be intimately related to reduced autonomic arousal to angry social stimuli, which may also be linked to the characteristic social disinhibition.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2016 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2016.08.017