Developmental approach to the psychology of craniofacial anomalies.

This article outlines a developmental perspective on psychosocial maladjustment and its implications for the psychological study and treatment of individuals with craniofacial anomalies. A developmental theory of attachment is described and used to formulate hypotheses about the developing parent-child relationship during the first 5 years of life and its influence on the child's subsequent social and emotional growth. Preliminary research involving infants with clefts and other craniofacial anomalies is reviewed with respect to hypothesized points of vulnerability in the attachment process. Two major points are made: (1) developmental theory provides a framework for the early identification of children in this population with elevated risk of subsequent psychosocial problems, and (2) among the multiple child and family variables associated with elevated risk, a craniofacial anomaly is unlikely to produce maladjustment in the absence of one or more other risk conditions such as family adversity, insecure attachment, or compromised child characteristics.

Rhythmic motor behavior of preambulatory motor impaired, Down syndrome and nondisabled children: a comparative analysis.

The developmental course of rhythmic motor behavior was followed longitudinally for three groups of preambulatory children--normally developing, Down syndrome, and those with profound motor impairment. The groups differed in chronological age but were comparable with respect to motor age. The motor impaired subjects displayed significantly less rhythmic motor behavior than the nondisabled and Down syndrome groups. In comparing particular subtypes of rhythmic motor behavior, differences were found in both the average number of bouts and duration of subtypes among the groups. Longitudinal analyses of the data over the entire observation period revealed that the rhythmic motor behavior of the children with Down syndrome was more similar to that exhibited by the nondisabled children than was the rhythmic motor behavior of the children with motor impairment. However, there was considerable variability among the groups in several particular subtypes.