Influence of Gender, Dispositional Optimism, and Coping Strategies on Appearance-Related Distress Among Swedish Adults With Cleft Lip and Palate.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the influence of gender, dispositional optimism, and coping strategies on appearance-related distress among individuals with unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP).

DESIGN

Cross-sectional design with self-report questionnaires analyzed primarily with Spearman correlations (rs) and multivariate regression analyses.

SETTING

A tertiary cleft center in Sweden.

PARTICIPANTS

Eighty individuals with UCLP born 1966 to 1986. The mean age for men (n = 50) and women (n = 30) was 38.8 and 37.4 years, respectively.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The Derriford Appearance Scale 24 measured appearance-related distress, the Life Orientation Test-Revised, short version measured dispositional optimism and pessimism, and the Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced, short version included 14 coping strategies.

RESULTS

Women had higher appearance-related distress than men, which was significantly (P < .05) related to self-blame (rs = 0.59), pessimism (rs = 0.59), and low optimism (rs = -0.56). Men's appearance-related distress was significantly associated with low active coping (rs = 0.35), low use of emotional support (rs = 0.29), denial (rs = 0.39), behavioral disengagement (rs = 0.41), and pessimism (rs = 0.28). The only significant gender interaction reflected greater impact of optimism in reducing appearance-related distress for women (β = -0.06).

CONCLUSIONS

This study showed that high levels of dispositional optimism decrease appearance-related distress, particularly for women. The coping strategies used differed between men and women, and the results suggest that both gender and psychosocial facto rs need to be considered in regard to appearance-related distress among individuals with UCLP in both clinical and research settings. A possible way to decrease distress is to strengthen positive coping strategies and dispositional optimism.