Abstract
Four topics were investigated: child behaviour, maternal social support, maternal coping strategies, and maternal psychological distress. Participants were 37 children aged 2-5 years old and their mothers, selected across three groups: cleft lip and palate (visible condition), cleft palate (invisible condition), and a comparison group of children who had had non-facial surgery. The General Health Questionnaire, The Pre-School Behaviour Checklist, The Significant Others Scale, and The Coping Responses Inventory were administered by post. It was expected that differences would be found between groups for the GHQ-12, PBCL and SOS measures. Moreover, it was hypothesized that there would be a relationship between social support and coping strategy, and that one would predict the other. Results indicated that there were no significant differences across groups for any of these measures, which challenges the notion presented in the literature that a visible facial defect leads to an increased frequency of child problem behaviour and decreased social support for the family. Results also showed a relationship between social support and certain approach coping strategies, although the relationship reported was inverse to that previously suggested by other studies. The findings of this study led to most of the hypotheses being rejected. This is discussed in relation to the research design, including sample and data characteristics, and use of measures. Possible future topics of research are suggested in the light of these results.