Adult psychological functioning of individuals born with craniofacial anomalies

This study represents an initial investigation into the adult psychological functioning of individuals born with craniofacial disfigurement a total of 24 men and women born with a craniofacial anomaly completed paper and penc il measures of body image dissatisfaction, self-esteem, quality of life, an d experiences of discrimination. An age- and gender-marched control group o f 24 non-facially disfigured adults also completed the measures. As expecte d, craniofacially disfigured adults reported greater dissatisfaction with t heir facial appearance than did the control group. Craniofacially disfigure d adults also reported significantly lower levels of self-esteem and qualit y of life. Dissatisfaction with facial appearance, self-esteem and quality of life were related to self-ratings of physical attractiveness. More than one-third of craniofacially disfigured adults (38 percent) reported experie nces of discrimination in employment or serial settings. Among disfigured a dults, psychological functioning was not related to number of surgeries, al though the degree of residual facial deformity was related to increased dis satisfaction with facial appearance and greater experiences of discriminati on. Results suggest that adults who were born with craniofacial disfigureme nt, as compared with non-facially disfigured adults, experience greater dis satisfaction with facial appearance and lower self-esteem and quality of li fe; however, these experiences do not seem to be universal.