Social Experience in 10-Year-Old Children Born With a Cleft: Exploring Psychosocial Resilience

Objective: The purposes of this study were to investigate self-reported social experience in 10-year-old children born with a cleft lip and/or palate and to gain a better understanding of variables implicated in psychosocial resilience. Design: Cross-sectional study of 10-year-old children from five consecutive birth cohorts, born from 1992 to 1997. Participants: A total of 268 children treated by the Oslo cleft team (Norway) participated in the study. The children's cleft conditions included cleft lip and palate, cleft lip alveolus, cleft palate, and submucous cleft palate. Outcome Measures: Psychosocial resilience was measured with the Child Experience Questionnaire (CEQ). Other variables were obtained during a clinical interview with the child. Cognitive, emotional, and psychosocial functioning was measured with the Personality Inventory for Children (PIC). Satisfaction with appearance was assessed through the use of the Satisfaction with Appearance Scales (SWA). Informants were both children and parents. Results: Cleft types differed significantly with respect to subtype and frequency of additional difficulties. Psychosocial resilience was associated with adequate emotional functioning, high satisfaction with appearance, and a lower frequency of reported teasing. Child characteristics such as visibility of cleft, gender, and additional diagnosis did not contribute to explain psychosocial resilience. Conclusions: Results reported here emphasise the importance of assessing the child's subjective report of satisfaction with appearance and psychosocial experience.