Turner Syndrome and Psychosocial Interventions: Recommendations for Collaborative Communication Between Medical and School Teams

Abstract

Individuals with Turner Syndrome (TS) can experience not only physical and medical differences but are also at risk for neurocognitive and associated psychosocial challenges. Specifically, research shows increased likelihood of difficulties with visual-spatial reasoning, executive functioning, attention, and mathematics skills. One emerging area of research focuses on deficits in social skills and increased prevalence of anxiety within this population. This review introduces relevant genetic influences of TS and examines existing research on social skills and anxiety in individuals with TS. The importance of collaboration between the medical team and school personnel for patients with TS is emphasized, and specific clinical recommendations, such as the use of the TS School Support Plan, are provided to facilitate this collaboration. This paper services as a brief introduction to orient the reader to considerations of strengthening collaboration between medical and school systems; however, future research is needed to investigate the effectiveness and acceptability of the School Support Plan to enhance liaison between the patient's medical and school teams.

Keywords: Turner Syndrome; anxiety; medical‐school collaboration; psychology; psychosocial interventions; social skills.