Cuskelly M, Gilmore L, Glenn S, Jobling A
School of Education, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Faculty of Education, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
J Intellect Disabil Res. 2016 Sep;60(9):865-73. doi: 10.1111/jir.12262. Epub 2016 Mar 4.
Self-regulation has been found to be an important contributor to a range of outcomes, with delay of gratification (a self-regulatory skill) predicting better academic, social and personal functioning. There is some evidence that individuals with Down syndrome have difficulty with delay of gratification. We investigated the question of whether this difficulty is common to intellectual disability irrespective of aetiology, or whether it presents a particular problem for those with Down syndrome. The latter was considered a possibility because of language difficulties in this group.
Three groups of children with a mean MA between 36 and 60 months participated in the study: children with Down syndrome (n = 32), children with a moderate intellectual disability from a cause other than Down syndrome (n = 26) and typically developing children (n = 50). Children completed a series of measures of language and cognitive functioning and participated in a delay of gratification task.
The group of children with Down syndrome delayed for a significantly shorter time than either of the other two groups that did not differ from each other. Receptive language was associated with delay time for the children with Down syndrome but not for the typically developing group, nor for the group with moderate intellectual disability.
Children with Down syndrome appear to have a particular difficulty with delay of gratification. Language abilities would seem to be implicated in this difficulty, although further examination of this hypothesis is required.
自我调节已被发现是一系列结果的重要促成因素，延迟满足（一种自我调节技能）预示着更好的学业、社交和个人功能。有证据表明，唐氏综合征患者在延迟满足方面存在困难。我们调查了这种困难是智力障碍患者（无论病因如何）所共有的，还是唐氏综合征患者所特有的问题。考虑到该群体存在语言困难，后一种情况被认为是有可能的。
三组平均心理年龄在36至60个月之间的儿童参与了该研究：唐氏综合征患儿（n = 32）、非唐氏综合征病因导致的中度智力障碍患儿（n = 26）和发育正常的儿童（n = 50）。儿童完成了一系列语言和认知功能测试，并参与了延迟满足任务。
唐氏综合征患儿组的延迟时间明显短于另外两组，而另外两组之间没有差异。接受性语言与唐氏综合征患儿的延迟时间相关，但与发育正常组以及中度智力障碍组无关。
唐氏综合征患儿在延迟满足方面似乎存在特殊困难。语言能力似乎与这一困难有关，不过需要进一步验证这一假设。
