Mental health problems in adults with Williams syndrome.
One in four adults with Williams syndrome meet PAS-ADD criteria for anxiety or phobias—screen for these during annual assessments.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Stinton et al. (2010) asked 92 adults with Williams syndrome to complete the PAS-ADD.
The PAS-ADD is a short interview that screens for common mental-health diagnoses.
Trained staff used the answers to see who met criteria for anxiety, phobias, or mood disorders.
What they found
One in four adults screened positive for at least one psychiatric diagnosis.
Anxiety and specific phobias were the most common problems found.
The team could not pin down any clear predictors of who would screen positive.
How this fits with other research
Willemsen-Swinkels et al. (1998) showed the Mini PAS-ADD agrees with expert doctors 81 % of the time. Stinton et al. (2010) later used the same tool, so the high anxiety rate is likely real, not a test flaw.
Guest et al. (2013) and Matson et al. (2011) repeated the validation in French and German. All studies found the checklist works, giving you confidence no matter which language your team speaks.
Dagnan et al. (2025) tested PHQ-9 and GAD-7 in adults with ID. These newer scales are briefer than PAS-ADD, so you might switch if you need a faster screen.
Why it matters
Williams syndrome is known for happy chatter, but this study reminds us to look deeper. Add the PAS-ADD, PHQ-9, or GAD-7 to your annual assessment battery. Flag anyone who scores high and refer for full mental-health evaluation. Early treatment of anxiety or phobias can cut avoidance behaviors and improve learning readiness.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Although many researchers have investigated emotional and behavioral difficulties in individuals with Williams syndrome, few have used standardized diagnostic assessments. We examined mental health problems in 92 adults with Williams syndrome using the Psychiatric Assessment Schedule for Adults with Developmental Disabilities-PAS-ADD (Moss, Goldberg, et al., 1996). Factors potentially associated with mental health problems were also explored. The PAS-ADD identified mental health problems in 24% of the sample. The most common were anxiety (16.5%) and specific phobias (12%). Other diagnoses included depression, agoraphobia, and social phobia. No association was found between the presence of mental health problems and either individual (e.g., age, IQ, language level) or external (life events) variables.
American journal on intellectual and developmental disabilities, 2010 · doi:10.1352/1944-7558-115.1.3