PSYCHOSOCIAL ADJUSTMENT IN CHILDREN WITH PORT-WINE STAINS AND PROMINENT EARS

Objective: To evaluate psychosocial adjustment in children with port-w ine stain (PWS) and children with prominent ears (PE). Method: Thirty- two children aged 7 to 16 years with facial PWS and 42 children with P E were evaluated using the Harter Self-Perception Profile, the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale, the Children's Depression Inventor y, the Disfigurement Perception Scale, and the Child Behavior Checklis t. Results were compared with normative data for the local population or with a control group. Profile scores were correlated with severity of the PWS or prominence of the ears. Results: Children with PE had po orer self-perception, higher concentration anxiety, and more internali zing and externalizing symptoms, and they were more withdrawn and had more social problems than children with PWS. The children with PWS fun ctioned as well as or better than nondisfigured peers on measurements of psychosocial adjustment, while children with PE scored lower than n ondisfigured peers on measures of self-perception and parent-rated soc ial and attention problems. There was no correlation between degree of disfigurement and level of psychosocial adjustment. Conclusions: Psyc hosocial adjustment varied according to the nature of the disfiguremen t or deformity and was unrelated to the severity of the disfigurement.