Children, adolescents with cleft lip and palate report difficulties in social interaction

Facial appearance is given great importance in our society.

Thus, children and adolescents with cleft lip and palate are at risk of experiencing psychosocial difficulties.

A new study in the January 2009 issue of the Cleft Palate–Craniofacial Journal did not find differences in emotional problems, conduct problems or hyperactivity between a group of children with CLP and a control group; however, study participants with CLP were six times more likely to report difficulties with social interaction.

The authors of the article, "Psychosocial Functioning and Sleep Patterns in Children and Adolescents With Cleft Lip and Palate Compared With Healthy Controls," assessed psychosocial functioning, interactional competencies, and sleep patterns in children and adolescents with CLP.

Study participants included 32 children and adolescents with CLP and 34 control subjects, all aged from 6 to 16 years.

Three hypotheses are put forth and discussed within the article:

(1) Increased difficulties and degraded participation in everyday life due to the presence of CLP were expected; however, impaired psychosocial functioning was not observed in every aspect of the participants' lives. Although CLP subjects showed increased impairment in the general social environment, they did not show such behavior among family, friends and peers.

(2) Sleep patterns were examined because sociocultural and psychological factors may negatively influence sleep. The data showed impaired sleep patterns associated with age, especially adolescence, but not with the presence of CLP.

(3) With increasing age, a weekend shift to a prolonged sleep period should be observable independent of CLP, meaning that a deviation from this expected sleep pattern could show underlying psychosocial causes. This shift was observed as a function of age, but again, a difference attributable to CLP was not seen.

The authors found that interactional difficulties increase with the transition from childhood to adolescence.

Therefore, skill training to improve competencies in specific social settings may be appropriate.

To read the article, "Psychosocial Functioning and Sleep Patterns in Children and Adolescents with Cleft Lip and Palate Compared with Healthy Controls," visit Allen Press.

To read more about cleft lip, go to cleft lip.

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