The Effects of Age, Information, and Personal Contact on Attitudes Toward Individuals With Cleft-Lip and Palate.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of the study was to examine how information and brief personal contact with individuals who have a cleft lip and/or palate (CLP) affected attitudes and to compare these effects across two age cohorts.

DESIGN AND

PARTICIPANTS

A pretest-posttest design was utilized to determine if accurate information and personal contact with an individual with CLP would affect cognitive, emotional, and behavioral attitudes in participants without CLP. To assess attitudes, 189 participants without cleft lip and palate completed a modified version of the Multidimensional Attitudes Scale toward Persons with Disabilities ( Findler et al., 2007 ). The study included a child cohort (n = 78; Mean age = 10.01 years) and a young adult cohort (n = 111; Mean age = 19.58 years).

RESULTS

Using a mixed MANCOVA, it was found that children's cognitive attitudes were significantly improved (22.54%) by information and personal contact with individuals with CLP. Within the young adult cohort, however, findings were inconsistent with prior research in that information and personal contact did not significantly affect their attitudes. There were no significant differences in attitudes between the age cohorts; however, data suggests that the children responded differently to the experimental intervention.

CONCLUSIONS

Nonclefted children's attitudes toward individuals with CLP can be significantly improved using educational information and personal contact with individuals with CLP. In the current study, the combination of accurate information and personal contact enhanced the degree of attitude change over and above the provision of information only.