Relationship Between Stigmatization and Sense of Coherence of Caregivers of Children With Cleft Lip and Palate in a Low-Middle-Income Country

Objective Sense of coherence (SOC) refers to an individual's psychological orientation that allows for successful stress management. This study aimed to determine the relationship between experience of stigmatization and SOC of caregivers of children with cleft lip and/or palate (CL/P). Design Cross-sectional. Setting A tertiary hospital in Nigeria. Patients/Participants Caregivers of children with CL/P managed from January 2023 to December 2024. Outcome Measures Caregivers’ stigmatization against their child with CL/P, their experience of societal stigmatization, and their SOC. Results A total of 158 caregivers, all mothers, participated in this study. Their age ranged from 17 to 44 years, with a median age of 30 years. The age range of participants' children was 1 to 23 weeks, and their median age was 5 weeks. Twenty-two (13.9%) mothers felt shame when their child was born, and 18 (11.4%) wished their child was never born. The majority (81.0%) of participants had low experience of societal stigmatization. For SOC, the minimum score recorded was 26, the maximum was 65, and the mean was 44.9 ± 8.94. Caregiver stigmatization against children with CL/P was more commonly seen among those with low SOC, while most mothers with high SOC exhibited positive reactions toward their child ( P < .05). Similarly, the majority of caregivers with low experience of societal stigmatization had high SOC, while caregivers with high experience of societal stigmatization had low SOC ( P < .05). Conclusion Low experience of stigmatization was significantly associated with high SOC and vice versa. This study suggests that SOC may be dampened by stigmatization, which can have harmful consequences in cleft management.