A Clinical Report: Mental health, Self-esteem and Social Interaction in Adolescents with CL/P in the Context of Re-constructive Surgery

Birgitta Johansson Niemelä,Valdemar Skoog

doi:10.4172/2167-1044.1000102

Birgitta Johansson Niemelä, Valdemar Skoog

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.4172/2167-1044.1000102

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Abstract

Background: Self-esteem in children and adolescents with deviances in function and appearance has been studied with diverse results. The effect of cleft lip/ and palate on mental health, self-esteem and social interaction were studied in the context of reconstructive surgery. Comparing parents’ and children’s’ self-esteem reports was also of interest. Exploring these differences could help the understanding of future mental health in patients with CL/P and their need for reconstructive surgery. Methods: A descriptive study within an in-patient setting, Plastic Surgery Clinic, Uppsala University Hospital. Twenty-six CL/P patients between 13 and 19 years of age and their parents answered a specific condition questionnaire specially adapted for this study and Beck’s Youth Inventories the day before reconstructive surgery. Results: Mental health was affected while self-esteem was on a median-high level for this CL/P group. Parents rated their children to have higher self-esteem as they grew older. However, females reported a diminished level from primary to secondary school age. Attention on CLP was high. Twenty-three adolescents, or 85 % of resondents, wanted to change their appearance, Conclusion: Mental health was affected by CL/P, especially for those children that had been bullied. Specifically, the wish to change appearance was associated with high level of anxiety and depression . The specific condition questionnaires proved to be more informative than the standardized measure regarding self-esteem under development for the sake of differentiating between parent-adolescent estimation of self-estee

Highlights

In modern medicine it has become increasingly important to measure the psychological benefits of reconstructive intervention in terms of its impact on patients’ mental health, self-esteem and social interaction
In this study we focused on young patients with cleft-lip and palate (CLP) during the final stages of reconstructive surgery
The results indicated a subgroup of adolescents with Cleft lip and palate (CL/P) who had been severely stressed by multiple factors such as learning disabilities, bullying, and female gender

Summary

Introduction

In modern medicine it has become increasingly important to measure the psychological benefits of reconstructive intervention in terms of its impact on patients’ mental health, self-esteem and social interaction. Studies conducted on self-esteem in children present a complicated view on the developmental perspective, and results from clinical reports and measures of the notion of self-esteem in children with a cleft are often contrasting or even contradictory.[7,8,9,10]. In interviews the children express satisfaction with the result of the surgery as well as a spontaneous expression of higher self-esteem Parents evaluated their children as having improved mental health after leg lengthening and otoplasty surgery. The effect of cleft lip/ and palate on mental health, self-esteem and social interaction were studied in the context of reconstructive surgery. Comparing parents’ and children’s’ self-esteem reports was of interest Exploring these differences could help the understanding of future mental health in patients with CL/P and their need for reconstructive surgery

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