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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Stephanie Van EedenORCiD, Professor Cristina McKean, Professor Helen StringerORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
Objective: To describe attention skills in children with cleft lip and palate across auditory and visual domains and investigate associations with cleft subtype, biological sex, socioeconomic status, and speech and language. Design: A cross-sectional observation study. Setting Participants from regional cleft lip and palate centers seen in schools and home. Participants: Eighty-one children aged 5 years 0 months to 7 years 11 months with non-syndromic cleft palate +/- lip. Main outcome measure Auditory and visual attention skills including measures of distractibility, impulsivity and focus across both domains. Results: Mean average scores for all measures of auditory and visual attention were below one standard deviation from the normative average (standard score <85). There was no main effect of cleft subtype. Boys had significantly lower scores for visual distractibility than girls. There was no statistically significant effect of socioeconomic status, but those from higher socioeconomic groups had scores up to 10 standard points higher in some measures than those in the middle or lower groups. Weak, significant correlations were observed between language skills and measures of attention. Conclusions: A range of both auditory and visual attention skills were low in this group raising the question of potential generalised attention difficulties in children with CLP. Attention skills were correlated with language. Professionals working with children with CLP should be aware that attention difficulties are prevalent and advise families and educators accordingly. Further research including intervention studies would increase our understanding.
Author(s): van Eeden S, McKean C, Stringer H
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: The Cleft Palate Craniofacial Journal
Year: 2025
Pages: epub ahead of print
Online publication date: 21/08/2025
Acceptance date: 30/06/2025
Date deposited: 03/11/2025
ISSN (print): 1055-6656
ISSN (electronic): 1545-1569
Publisher: Sage Publications, Inc.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1177/10556656251351756
DOI: 10.1177/10556656251351756
Data Access Statement: Data is available upon request at https://doi.org/10.25405/data.ncl.24581901
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