Parenting children with a cleft lip with or without palate or a visible infantile hemangioma: A cross-sectional study of distress and parenting stress

Objective: Parents of children with a medical condition and a visible difference can experience challenging situations. We evaluated distress and parenting stress in parents of children with a cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL +/- P) or a visible infantile hemangioma (IH). Setting: This cross-sectional study took place in an academic medical hospital in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Participants: Three-hundred nine parents (mean age = 40.30, 56.00% mothers) of children with CL +/- P and 91 parents (mean age = 36.40, 58.24% mothers) of children with IH. Main Outcome Measures: The Dutch version of the Parenting Stress Index - Short Form and the subscales Anxiety, Depression, and Hostility of the Symptom Checklist - 90. Results: One sample t tests and mixed linear modeling were used. On average, parents of children with CL +/- P and of children with IH showed significantly lower parenting stress compared to normative data. Anxiety was significantly lower in parents of children with CL +/- P than that in the norm group. Visibility of the condition was not related to distress or parenting stress. Child behavioral problems were positively related to parenting stress, depression, and hostility. Conclusions: Parents of children with CL +/- P and IH report less distress and parenting stress compared to the norm. On average, these parents seem well adjusted. A practical implication is to monitor parents of children with behavioral problems.Stress and Psychopatholog

Emotional and behavioral problems in children with a cleft lip with or without palate or an Infantile Hemangioma

Objective: Life can be challenging for children with a visible difference due to a medical condition, and they might be at risk for emotional and behavioral problems. This study examines emotional and behavioral problems in children with a cleft lip with or without palate (CL +/- P) or an infantile hemangioma (IH) in relation to the visibility of the condition, the presence of additional condition-related problems, and parental affect. Setting: This cross-sectional study took place in an academic medical hospital in the Erasmus MC Sophia Children's Hospital, the Netherlands. Participants: A total of 309 parents (mean age = 40.34, 44.00% male) of 182 children with CL +/- P and 48 parents (mean age = 39.21, 37.50% male) of 33 children with an IH completed questionnaires. Children were 1.5 to 12 years old. Results: Parents reported fewer child emotional and behavioral problems compared to normative data. Problems reported were mainly related to learning difficulties and parent gender, while visibility of the condition had no significant influence. Parental negative affect was related to child internalizing problems. Parental positive affect was not related to any of the outcome measures. Conclusions: Parents reported fewer problems for their children compared to normative data. This is inconsistent with previous research, showing similar or worse scores for these children compared to peers. Our findings may be explained by a protective parenting style, a response shift in parents, or problems developing at a later point in life.Stress and Psychopatholog