Psychosocial aspects of patients with the Ullrich-Turner syndrome.

Family and social background and psychosexual and psychomotor development were studied on 24 patients with the Ullrich-Turner syndrome ranging in age from 9 months to 18 years. Infancy is often characterized by mild feeding problems and sleeping difficulty. Early motor development is normal or mildly delayed but acquisition of speech and toilet training appear to be appropriate for age. Social skills are excellent. Psychopathology is not a significant aspect of the Ullrich-Turner syndrome. Psychological tests support the findings of verbal IQ exceeding performance IQ, space-form perceptual deficits, and visual motor deficit. No difference of intelligence was found between apparently nonmosaic and mosaic types of Ullrich-Turner syndrome. The degree of parental understanding and appropriate attitudes toward the patient and the syndrome largely depend on good family relationships, the socioeconomic level of the family, parents' personalities and their ability to cope with the implications of the syndrome, and appropriate physician's counseling.