Psychosocial Profile: Social Skills

Appropriate responses to social situations require visual attention to subtle social cues and the ability to react without impulsivity. It is therefore not surprising that some girls with TS may to have difficulty behaving appropriately in social situations. Research with those with TS has shown that there are specific deficits in immediate memory for faces and it may take longer to encode a face and interpret facial emotions.  This can impact everyday social communication. Girls with TS may have fewer close friends than unaffected peers, spend less time with peers, and appear to be less emotionally developed. 

Girls with TS also show some deficits in ability to detect reciprocal and social behaviors as well as use expressive social communication. Interestingly, researchers found no difference in scores on the Social Motivation subscale for girls with TS as compared to typically developing peers.

Previous research has found that self-esteem and self-concept in girls with TS tend to decrease over time. The typical scores on the Social Motivation subscale for girls with TS could explain the link between impaired social performance and these decreases in self-esteem and self-concept. That is, individuals with TS are likely motivated to engage in social situations but may experience difficulties successfully doing so due to deficits in social skills. Multiple experiences of unsuccessful social performances may in turn be related to the observed decrease in self-esteem and self-concept.