Long-term psychological outcome of children after surgery for transposition of the great arteries

To assess the psychological consequences of a single congenital heart defect, we tested intellectual function, self‐perception,‘'body image”, child psychiatric symptoms and the family climate in 21 boys and 10 girls, at a mean age of 13.2y, on average 11.5 y after surgery for transposition of t...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Acta Paediatrica 1998-04, Vol.87 (4), p.405-410
Main Authors: Aldén, B, Gilljam, T, Gillberg, C
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation
Adaptation, Psychological
Adolescent
Biological and medical sciences
Body Image
Child
Child Behavior
Child Development
Congenital heart defect
family function
Female
Follow-Up Studies
Humans
Intelligence Tests
Male
Medical sciences
psychiatric symptoms
Psychiatry
Psychological
Psychological Tests
Psychology
Psykiatri
Surgery
Surgery (general aspects). Transplantations, organ and tissue grafts. Graft diseases
Thoracic Surgery
Transposition of Great Vessels
Transposition of Great Vessels - psychology
Transposition of Great Vessels - surgery
Vascular surgery: aorta, extremities, vena cava. Surgery of the lymphatic vessels
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:To assess the psychological consequences of a single congenital heart defect, we tested intellectual function, self‐perception,‘'body image”, child psychiatric symptoms and the family climate in 21 boys and 10 girls, at a mean age of 13.2y, on average 11.5 y after surgery for transposition of the great arteries. Where applicable, test norms were used for comparison. WISC‐R IQ tended to be slightly lower than that of the general population. Self‐perception, as reflected on the“I think I am”test, was normal.“Body image”as measured by the“Draw‐a‐man”test was poor in the boys, but did not show a relationship with any other test tapping mental health. Six children (19%) had clinically significant child psychiatric symptoms, which is slightly more than expected, and were overrepresented in patients with poorer cardiac function. Five of these represented“internalizing”disorders. The patients’families scored higher than expected on the family climate“chaos”subscale, which has been demonstrated to be associated with the development of psychiatric symptoms. Overall, however, the children and their families were regarded as socially and psychologically well‐functioning.
ISSN:0803-5253
1651-2227
DOI:10.1111/j.1651-2227.1998.tb01468.x