Early Familial Experiences With Microtia: Psychosocial Implications for Pediatric Providers.

This study focuses on early experiences of families with a child with microtia to better inform their ongoing care by pediatric providers. Parents and children (n = 62; mean age of 6.9 ± 3.9 years) with isolated microtia participated in semistructured interviews in Spanish (66.1%) or English (33.9%). Qualitative analysis of responses used open coding to identify themes. Parents reported stressful informing experiences of the diagnosis with multiple negative emotions. Parents and children generally reported not understanding microtia etiology, while some families identified medical, religious, and folk explanations. Parental coping included learning about surgeries, normalization, perspective taking, and support from family, providers, religion, and others with microtia. Family communication centered on surgery and reassurance. Pediatricians of children with microtia need to understand families' formative psychosocial experiences to better promote positive family adjustment through clarifying misinformation, educating families about available treatment options, modeling acceptance, psychosocial screening, and providing resources.

Teasing in younger and older children with microtia before and after ear reconstruction.

This study prospectively measured teasing and emotional adjustment before and after ear reconstruction in younger and older children with microtia. Participants with isolated microtia (n = 28) were divided into two groups by age at surgery, with a younger group aged 3-5 years (n = 13) with a mean age of 4.0 (0.71) years at the time of surgery and an older group aged 6-10 years old (n = 15) with a mean age of 7.87 (1.30) years. Children and their parents were interviewed preoperatively and a year after surgery about teasing and emotions about their ear(s). Teasing began between the ages of 2.4-4.8 years. A third of the younger group and all of the older group reported preoperative teasing. Before surgery, the older group reported higher rates of negative emotions about their ear(s) and teasing was correlated for all ages with feeling sad, worried, and mad about their ear(s). After surgery, teasing and negative emotions significantly decreased with increased happiness about their ear(s). Postoperative teasing was correlated with trying to hide their ear(s). There were significant interactions from before to after surgery based on surgery age for frequency of teasing, sadness, and feeling mad, with the older group showing relatively greater change postoperatively. Teasing and negative emotions about their ear(s) decreased for all ages after surgery, with a potential protective factor seen in younger surgery age.

Pre and post-operative psychological functioning in younger and older children with microtia.

OBJECTIVES: Microtia ranges from a smaller ear to the absence of the external ear and has been associated with psychosocial distress. Traditional ear reconstruction takes place beginning at age six. Use of an alloplastic implant allows for earlier surgery starting at age three, which may reduce potential negative psychological effects. However, few studies have examined psychosocial outcomes of ear reconstruction with groups that include young children. METHODS: Children (N = 23) with microtia and their parents completed two microtia-related scales, negative emotions and microtia social awareness, and the Behavioral Assessment System for Children - Second Edition (BASC-2) subscales of anxiety, depression, and social skills before surgery and one year after surgery. Participants (74% male) were three to nine years old with a mean age of 6.13 ± 2.10 years and were grouped by age at surgery, three to six years (n = 11) or seven to ten years (n = 12). The sample identified as Latino (96%) or "other" (4%). RESULTS: Pre and postoperative scores by age group were compared using two-way repeated measures analyses of variance. Children and parents reported significantly less negative emotion and microtia social awareness following surgery, with an interaction for parental report of older children showing higher negative emotion preoperatively. Older children also had higher scores of depression and anxiety before surgery and both groups reported significant decreases following surgery, along with improved social skills. Older children showed significantly greater gains in social skills. CONCLUSION: All participants and their parents reported improved psychological functioning postoperatively. However, older children may be at greater risk of psychological concerns given the longer time they have to cope with the impact of microtia on self-image and exposure to social stressors. Undergoing reconstructive surgery earlier may be a protective factor for children with microtia.