[Cleft Lip/Palate diagnosis in early childhood of Nicaragua: impact of the diagnosis on a family level.]

Introduction: Children with congenital anomalies are a vulnerable population in the development of mental health problems. The cleft lip and palate (FLAP) is a structural congenital anomaly.

Objective: To study the impact at family level of the FLAP diagnosis.

Methodology: Descriptive and quantitative design and cross-sectional scope. A self-administered questionnaire consisting of an informed consent, a sociodemographic data questionnaire, the Child Behavior Checklist and open questions, was constructed. The sampling was intentional and composed by 50 cases.

Results: The CBCL 1.5-5 indicated an average of M = 53.60 (SD 23.53) in the general scale of behavioral and emotional problems, M = 14.86 for the internalizing scale, and M = 19.04 for the externalizing scale.

Conclusions: The diagnosis of a cleft palatal lip is a difficult experience in parents, who experience this moment in a negative way, with sadness and fear. Preschool children with a diagnosis of cleft lip and palate are a population at risk of developing psychopathological disorders, mainly of the externalizing type.