Maternal Representations and Parenting Style in Children Born With and Without an Orofacial Cleft

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the evolution of maternal representations (ie, the way parents perceive their child in term of temperament, character, behaviors, etc) of children with a cleft at 3 major milestones: before/after reconstructive surgeries and at school age. Parenting style was also analyzed and compared with parents of children born without a cleft. Design and participants: The sample was composed of 30 mothers of children with an orofacial cleft and 14 mothers of children without a cleft. Maternal representations were assessed when the child was 2 months (before surgery), 12 months (after surgery), and 5 years of age (when starting school) using semistructured interviews that were transcribed and coded according to the subscales of the Working Model of the Child Interview and the Parental Development Interview. At the 5-year appointment, mothers also completed a questionnaire about parenting style. Results: Results showed no difference across groups (cleft/noncleft) in maternal representations at the 2-month, 12-month, and 5-year assessments. In the cleft group, significant differences were shown between 2 and 12 months in caregiving sensitivity, perceived infant difficulty, fear for the infant's safety, and parental pride, all factors being higher at 12 months. Those differences in parental representations over time were not found in the noncleft group. Additionally, mothers of the cleft group were significantly more authoritarian than mothers of children without a cleft. Conclusion: The absence of differences across cleft and noncleft groups suggests that having a child with a cleft does not affect maternal representations and emotions between 2 months and 5 years of the child's age. However, parenting style seems to be influenced by the presence of a cleft in the present sample.

Risk and Protective Factors for Psychological Distress in Families Following a Diagnosis of Cleft Lip and/or Palate

“…Although recent qualitative work has offered in-depth reports of families’ experiences of the treatment journey (eg, Vanz and Ribeiro, 2011; Nelson et al, 2012; Nelson and Kirk, 2013; Stock and Rumsey, 2015), the quantitative literature is characterized by conflicting findings. Although some studies have observed high levels of parental stress and depression (eg, Habersaat et al, 2018), others have reported few differences in family functioning between parents of children with CL/P and the general population (eg, Crerand et al, 2015).…”

Attachment in Infants With Cleft Lip and/or Palate: Marginal Security and Its Changes Over Time

“…Giving birth to an infant with a cleft also is a source of stress for parents, and this is often followed by parental distress (Bradbury & Hewison, ; Despars et al., ; Habersaat et al., ; Johansson & Ringberg, 2004), at least temporarily affecting the parental attachment representations (Habersaat et al., ). Most parents experience feelings of grief and loss concerning the unanticipated appearance of the child as well as fear about the child's future (Endriga & Kapp‐Simon, ; Hasanzadeh, Khoda, Jahanbin, & Vatankhah, ; Locker et al., ; Weigl, Rudolph, Eysholdt, & Rosanowski, ).…”