Beyond the face: An interdisciplinary evaluation of satisfaction with appearance in young people with orofacial clefts

Orofacial clefts are the most common congenital anomaly of the face, and they significantly affect appearance. The combined effects of demographics, psychology, neurophysiology, and cleft characteristics to explain satisfaction with appearance in young people with a cleft have not yet been comprehensively studied in an interdisciplinary manner. We found that interpersonal difficulties, age, and conscientiousness were significant explanatory factors for satisfaction with appearance (t_{interpersonal difficulties} = -3.022, <i>p</i> = 0.006; t_age = -3.563, <i>p</i> = 0.016; t_{conscientiousness} = 4.161, <i>p</i> = 0.003); the model explained 50% of variance in satisfaction with appearance (R² _Adjusted = 0.504, F_{vs. constant} = 4.05, <i>p</i> = 0.00117). Furthermore, frontal alpha asymmetry was complexly intertwined with other variables, affecting the overall accuracy of the model, but explaining only 10.5% of variance in satisfaction with appearance when used as a factor alone. The results show that an interdisciplinary approach can substantially expand our understanding of the factors influencing self-perception in young people with orofacial clefts.