VCFS is a genetic disorder caused by a deletion of DNA from the long arm of chromosome 22 at the q11.2 band. The major physical symptoms of VCFS include palatal abnormalities, such as cleft palate and velopharyngeal insufficiency; cardiac malformations; and characteristic facial features, typically a long face, prominent nasal tip, and small ears. The large majority of individuals with VCFS have intellectual difficulties and learning disabilities. Compared with two control samples, children with VCFS had higher prevalence rates of major depressive disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, simple phobias, and enuresis or bed-wetting. There were no gender differences in VCFS psychopathology prevalence rates. Children with VCFS who had comorbid psychopathology were rated by their parents as having less well-developed executive functions; and across all three samples, the higher the IQ, the higher the level of global functioning. These findings are consistent with previous research and suggest that major depressive disorder, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and simple phobias are prominent features of the VCFS psychiatric pattern. A total of 154 children ages 6 to 15 participated in the between-group design with 3 samples: 84 children with VCFS (37 girls and 47 boys); 32 sibling controls (18 girls and 14 boys); and 38 community controls (12 girls and 16 boys). The Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children-Present and Lifetime Version (K-SADS-PL) and several of the parent report measures were used to assess for psychopathology. 2 tables and 37 references