Kids with facial birth defects more prone to anxiety, depression

Kids aged 8 to 10 years with facial defects by birth showed highest levels of anxiety, depression and difficulties in peer interactions when compared to youth with craniofacial defects in middle and high schools.

Some, like cleft lip and palate, are among the most common of all birth defects.

Children born with congenital craniofacial anomalies, such as cleft lip and cleft palate, may have difficulty socialising with their peers and others and may face bullying and teasing in school.

The findings conducted by Dr justine lee from University Of California - Los Angeles Health Sciences suggested that keeping a close watch for these signs and educating the child's peers about their condition may be necessary for this age group.

The team evaluated 99 people of aged 8 to 17.

The youths were divided into three age groups: elementary (8 to 10 years); middle school (11 to 13), and high school (14 to 17).

The system is a set of measures that evaluates and monitors physical, mental and social health.

They assessed anger, anxiety, depression and quality of peer relationships.

The results revealed that the elementary school children consistently fared so poorly.

The team suggested that understanding that the difficulties of these kids during the critical elementary school years can help researchers, schools and parents work toward helping these youngsters grow up in an environment that fosters acceptance and understanding of their physical anomalies.