Brief report: cleft lip and palate: longitudinal behavior and relationships of cleft conditions to behavior and achievement.

Analyzed longitudinal behavior ratings (ANOVAs) for 44 children (ages 4-12) with cleft lip and palate and cleft palate only (CLP) and examined the relationship of speech, hearing, and facial disfigurement at age 9 in predicting behavioral characteristics and school achievement (multiple regression). Results indicate increasing levels of social inhibition over age for girls with CLP, but less so for boys. There were also increasing levels of conduct problems for older girls with CLP with variable age fluctuation for boys. Attempts to relate speech, hearing, or facial disfigurement to prediction of behavior or achievement at age 9 were not revealing and further analysis with larger samples is indicated.