Psychological functioning of children with craniofacial anomalies and their mothers: follow-up from late infancy to school entry.

Twenty-three mothers and their 5- to 7-year-old children with craniofacial anomalies (CFA) who were assessed during the child's infancy were followed. Three types of CFA were included: cleft lip and palate (CLP), isolated cleft palate (CP), and sagittal synostosis. Measures of child status focused on behavior-problem frequency and self-concept. Mothers completed self-report measures of emotional well-being, marital satisfaction, and social support. Results indicated that (1) a sizable minority (18%) of the children with CFA had clinically significant behavior-problem scores shown in concordant reports by parent and teacher of behavior problems; (2) individual differences in child functioning within the CFA group were predicted by observational measures of earlier mother-infant interaction during play and teaching situations; (3) mothers of children with CLP reported less favorable social support than mothers of children with CP or sagittal synostosis.