Abstract
Maternal emotional indicators such as anxiety have been considered as conditions of adversity to child development, and peculiarities and diversity of findings have been observed in relation to behavioral problems and other debilitating disorders in children across the life cycle. The present study aimed to identify and associate clinical indicators for maternal anxiety along with indicators of behavioral problems (internalizing and externalizing) of 83 children with cleft lip and palate, aged between three and five years old. The instruments used were: Interview Protocol, IDATE and CBCL. The results indicated that children who live with mothers with clinical indicators for anxiety showed prevalence of internalizing (p < 0.001) and externalizing (p < 0.001) behaviors; in boys (37.5%) were identified more externalizing behavioral problems while in girls (60.0%) were identified more internalizing behavioral problems. Children with mothers identified with anxiety were evaluated as clinical in externalizing problems (p = 0.020 e < 0.001). It is considered that such data can contribute to the planning of preventive and interventional actions, in order to promote psychological support for mothers who have clinical indicators for anxiety, and to propose measures for the behavioral problems of children living with anxious mothers.
Maternal Anxiety; Child Behavior; Cleft Lip and Palate