Predictors of social competence in young adolescents with craniofacial anomalies

This descriptive study shows the development and evaluation of a model of social competence in young adolescents with craniofacial anomalies. Craniofacial patients (N = 48, 11-14 years) completed the Social Anxiety Scale for Children, selected subscales of the Self-Perception Scale for Adolescents and the Social Support Scale for Children. Their parents completed the Child Behaviour Checklist. Facial disfigurement was independently rated. Multiple regression analyses suggested a revised model in which one aspect of social anxiety (social avoidance/distress) predicts social competence, with peer support as a mediator, while the other aspect of social anxiety (fear of negative evaluation) predicts social competence, with parental support as a mediator. Severity of facial disfigurement was not related to any psychological variable. While self-worth predicted social competence when considered alone, this relationship disappeared when the other variables were taken into account; self-worth remained closely associated with fear of negative evaluation. Although mean Child Behaviour Checklist scores were in the normal range, almost half the adolescents had psychological problems of clinical concern. The results suggest that young adolescents with craniofacial anomalies require psychological assessment regardless of degree of disfigurement. Interventions to reduce social anxiety and improve social support may be of particular value for promoting social competence.