Personality profiles of youngsters with Prader-Willi syndrome and youngsters attending regular schools.

For the study of the personality profile of youngsters with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS), a PWS group was compared with a matched group of youngsters attending regular school. The PWS group consisted of 28 youngsters (12 males and 16 females; mean age 11 years, 11 months). These youngsters were matched on gender and age level with 28 youngsters out of a group of 333 youngsters in regular school. Behaviour and personality characteristics of each youngster in both groups were described by both parents, using a Dutch version of the California Child Q-set (CCQ; Block & Block 1980). The present authors compared the scores of both groups on eight personality dimensions, derived from the aggregated CCQ-descriptions for fathers and mothers. The personality dimensions were Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, Openness, Motor Activity, Irritability and Dependency. The authors investigated further individual differences of PWS youngsters on the same eight CCQ personality dimensions, considering gender and age level as well as IQ level and the presence or absence of a 15q11-q13 deletion. The personality profile of PWS youngsters was markedly different from youngsters in regular school. Some personality characteristics were related to gender and IQ. The lower level of physical activity in PWS girls without 15q11-q13 deletion needs further study.