Abstract:

Williams-Beuren Syndrome (WS) is a multiple systemic chromosome disorder that was identified by John Cyprian Phipps Williams in 1961 and is caused by the deletion of the seventh pair of chromosome pairs. Since children diagnosed with WS are individuals with special needs, it may cause anxiety in parents due to factors such as the fact that children are always dependent on their parents and their social lives are limited. In this context, the aim of this study is to investigate the anxiety levels of parents with children diagnosed with WS in Turkey due to the difficulties they experience. A total of 118 parents with children diagnosed with WS and registered with the Williams Syndrome Association of Turkey (TWSD) participated in the study, which was conducted using a survey model. Data were collected through socio-demographic questions created by the researchers and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) developed by Beck, Epstein, Brown ve Steer (1988). In the analysis of the data, Pearson correlation test, Independent Sample t Test and One-Way Analysis of Variance were used as parametric tests since the data came from a normal distribution. As a result of the findings, it was observed that the marital status, employment status, the number of children, the number of children in the family, the number of children diagnosed with WS, blaming themselves for the child being diagnosed with WS, and finally, the anxiety about who will take care of the child in their absence significantly affected the anxiety levels of the parents. It is recommended to work more intensively and effectively with parents with children diagnosed with WS and to develop micro, mezzo and macro social service practices for children diagnosed with WS.

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