Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Jan;58(1):42-53.
doi: 10.1177/1055665620947987. Epub 2020 Aug 12.

Behavioral Adjustment of Preschool Children With and Without Craniofacial Microsomia

Alexis L Johns  1 , Erin R Wallace  2 , Brent R Collett  3 , Kathleen A Kapp-Simon  4   5 , Amelia F Drake  6 , Carrie L Heike  7 , Sara L Kinter  8 , Daniela V Luquetti  7 , Leanne Magee  9 , Susan Norton  10 , Kathleen Sie  10 , Matthew L Speltz  3
Affiliations

Behavioral Adjustment of Preschool Children With and Without Craniofacial Microsomia

Alexis L Johns et al. Cleft Palate Craniofac J. 2021 Jan.

Abstract

Objective: The study aim was to assess behavioral adjustment in preschool children with and without craniofacial microsomia (CFM).

Design: Multisite cohort study of preschoolers with CFM ("cases") or without CFM ("controls").

Participants: Mothers (89%), fathers (9%), and other caregivers (2%) of 161 preschoolers.

Outcome measure: Child Behavior Check List (CBCL 1.5-5); linear regressions with standardized effect sizes (ES) adjusted for sociodemographic confounds.

Results: Child Behavior Check Lists for 89 cases and 72 controls (average age 38.3 ± 1.9 months). Children were male (54%), white (69%), and of Latino ethnicity (47%). Cases had microtia with mandibular hypoplasia (52%), microtia only (30%), or other CFM-associated features (18%). Nearly 20% of cases had extracranial anomalies. Composite CBCL scores were in the average range compared to test norms and similar for cases and controls. On the subscales, cases' parents reported higher Anxious/Depressed scores (ES = 0.35, P = .04), Stress Problems (ES = 0.40, P = .04), Anxiety Problems (ES = 0.34, P = .04), and Autism Spectrum Problems (ES = 0.41, P = .02); however, the autism subscale primarily reflected speech concerns. Among cases, more problems were reported for children with extracranial anomalies and certain phenotypic categories with small ES.

Conclusions: Behavioral adjustment of preschoolers with CFM was comparable to peers. However, parental reports reflected greater concern for internalizing behaviors; thus, anxiety screening and interventions may benefit children with CFM. Among cases, more problems were reported for those with more complex presentations of CFM. Craniofacial microsomia-related speech problems should be distinguished from associated psychosocial symptoms during developmental evaluations.

Keywords: craniofacial microsomia; hemifacial microsomia; parental perception; psychosocial adjustment.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Achenbach TM, Rescorla LA. Manual for the ASEBA School-Age Forms and Profiles. Burlington: University of Vermont Research Center for Children, Youth, and Families; 2001.
    1. Barisic I, Odak L, Loane M, et al. Prevalence, prenatal diagnosis and clinical features of oculo-auriculo-verterbal spectrum: A registry-based study in Europe. Eur J Hum Genet. 2014;22:1026–1033. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Canfield MA, Langlois PH, Nguyen LM, Scheuerle AE. Epidemiologic features and clinical subgroups of anotia/microtia in Texas. Birth Defects Res A Clin Mol Teratol. 2009; 905–913. - PubMed
    1. Cline JM, Hicks KE, Patel KG. Characterization of facial paresis in hemifacial microsomia. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2014;150:188–193. - PubMed
    1. Cohen N, Cohen E, Gaiero A, et al. Maxillofacial features and systemic malformations in expanded spectrum of hemifacial microsomia. Am J Med Genet A. 2017;173:1208–1218. - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources