Risk and protective factors at age 10: Psychological adjustment in children with a cleft lip and/or Palate

© Copyright 2016 American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association. Objective: To explore psychological functioning in children with a cleft at age 10 from a broad perspective, including cognitive, emotional, behavioral, appearance-related, and social adjustment. High-risk groups were identified within each area of adjustment to investigate whether vulnerable children were found across domains or whether risk was limited to specific areas of adjustment. Methods: Retrospective chart review from psychological assessments at age 10 (N = 845). The effects of gender, cleft visibility, and the presence of an additional condition were investigated. Results were compared with large national samples. Measures: Personality Inventory for Children, Child Experience Questionnaire, Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, Satisfaction With Appearance scale. Results: The factor affecting psychological adjustment on most domains was the presence of an associated condition in addition to the cleft. As expected, no support was found for cleft visibility as a risk factor, while there were some gender differences related to emotional difficulties and attention. Correlation analyses of risk groups pointed to an association between social experiences and emotional adjustment and between social and behavioral adjustment; whereas, dissatisfaction with appearance was not related to any other domains of risk at age 10. Conclusions: The results point to the importance of early screening and assessment of children born with a cleft to identify possible associated conditions and offer adapted and appropriate treatment and care. Future research should investigate how protective factors could counteract potential risk in children with a cleft

THE PLURALITY OF FACTORS INFLUENCING POLICYMAKINC: SCHOOL REFORM LEGISLATION IN THE AMERICAN STATES, 1982-84

This paper attempts to explore recent efforts of American state legislatures to improve the quality of public schools. Which state legislatures have passed school reform legislation? At what aspects of public education is this reform legislation aimed? Are there significant variations across states in such reform legislation? What has contributed most to the passage of such legislation? Is it the socioeconomic characteristics of individual states or the structural and procedural characteristics of their legislative branch that better explain school reform legislation? Analysis of data from the 50 states reveals greater variation in legislative results that reform public schools. The regional locus of most reform was the south. Most importantly, school reform legislation was found to be influenced by the interaction of a multitude of divergent forces. This finding suggests that researchers interested in the determinants of legislative action must move beyond analysis of whether economic or political forces shape legislative outcomes to inquire how economic, political and other forces interact when a given reform effort reaches the legislative halls of the states. Copyright 1988 by The Policy Studies Organization.