Psychosocial outcomes in children with hemifacial microsomia.

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether children with hemifacial microsomia (HFM) have higher risk for psychosocial problems than children without HFM.

METHODS

One hundred and thirty-six children with HFM (64% male, mean age = 6.9 years) were compared to 568 matched controls (50% male, mean age = 7.0 years) on parent and teacher measures of behavior problems and social competence, and teacher rankings of peer acceptance.

RESULTS

Parents of cases and controls reported similar levels of behavior problems and social competence. Teachers reported higher frequencies of internalizing problems, lower social competence and less peer acceptance for cases. Relative to controls, teacher-rated outcomes were worse for female cases, those with younger mothers at the time of birth, those with eye anomalies, and those with one or more malformations in addition to the core features of HFM.

CONCLUSIONS

This study provides the first evidence of relatively poor psychosocial outcomes among children with HFM.