Being Teased A Significant Predictor Of Psychosocial Problems

Main Category: Psychology / Psychiatry
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health;  Anxiety / Stress
Article Date: 07 May 2007 - 0:00 PDT

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In one of the first controlled studies to assess the opinions of parents of children with cleft lip and palate regarding psychosocial adjustment, the majority believed that their child was at some psychosocial disadvantage. The study was published in the latest issue of Cleft Palate Craniofacial Journal.

In the study, parents of children with and without CLP were asked about their children's psychosocial problems. Parents play a major role in determining the nature and number of surgical and other interventions used to correct the aesthetic and functional aspects of CLP. It is therefore important to understand the factors that influence parents' perceptions of their child's psychosocial well-being, said the study's researchers.

There was, however, some disagreement between children and parents over happiness with facial appearance and the level of behavioral problems. Children with CLP were more satisfied with their appearance than their parents believed they were, while subjects without CLP were less satisfied with their appearance than their parents believed they were.

A number of factors, such as visibility of a scar, happiness with appearance, previous history of CLP in the family, and presence of CLP, affected various aspects of psychosocial functioning. Overall, the main predictor of psychosocial problems, regardless of the presence or absence of cleft lip and palate, was having been teased. Teasing was found to be significantly more common for the children with cleft lip and palate versus those without.

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