Family Environment and Behavior Problems in Children, Adolescents, and Adults with Fragile X Syndrome

• Published in: American journal on intellectual and developmental disabilities Vol. 117; no. 4; pp. 331 - 346
• Main Authors: Greenberg, Jan S, Seltzer, Marsha Mailick, Baker, Jason K, Smith, Leann E, Warren, Steven F, Brady, Nancy, Hong, Jinkuk
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities 01.07.2012; American Association of Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adolescent Behavior - psychology; Adolescents; Adult; Adults; Affective Behavior; Age Differences; Autism; Behavior Problems; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child development; Child Development Disorders, Pervasive - genetics; Child Development Disorders, Pervasive - psychology; Children; Children & youth; Chromosome fragility (bloom syndrome, ataxia telangiectasia, fanconi anemia, x-linked mental retardation...); Cognitive Tests; Correlation; Criticism; Developmental Delays; Expressed Emotion - physiology; Families & family life; Family; Family Environment; Family environment. Family history; Family Influence; Family Programs; Family Relations; Female; Fragile X Syndrome - genetics; Fragile X Syndrome - psychology; Genetic Disorders; Humans; Male; Medical genetics; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Mother-Child Relations; Mothers; Mothers - psychology; Parent Participation; Phenotype; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Social psychiatry. Ethnopsychiatry; Teenagers; Young Adult; United States > US; Human; Social environment; Affect affectivity; Chromosome fragility; Expressed emotion; Multicenter study; Developmental disorder; Mental retardation; Behavioral disorder; School age; Adolescent; Young adult; Intellectual deficiency; Family environment; Adult; Fragile X syndrome; Child; Age
• ISSN: 1944-7515; 1944-7558
• DOI: 10.1352/1944-7558-117.4.331

We examine how the family environment is associated with aspects of the Fragile X syndrome phenotype during childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Mothers of children (n = 48), adolescents (n = 85), and adults (n = 34) with Fragile X syndrome participated in a multisite study. For children and adults with Fragile X syndrome, the presence of warmth and positivity and the absence of criticism were associated with fewer behavior problems. Although a higher level of criticism was significantly associated with greater behavior problems, there were only trend-level associations between levels of warmth and positivity and behavior problems during the adolescent years. The provision of family psychoeducation programs, which can reduce parental criticism, would likely benefit both the individual with Fragile X syndrome and the family.