shutterstock_197646455Single-suture craniosynostosis (SCC) in infants has little effect on parental stress levels, according to a new study in the January 2015 issue of Cleft Palate–Craniofacial Journal.

 The researchers speculated that with this particular deformity, stress levels would increase as months passed and the effects of the early surgery became clearer. Instead, they found few differences in the stress levels of parents involved in the study.

If untreated, the deformity can become permanent and cause increased pressure in the head, seizures, and developmental delays.

The new findings may help reconstructive surgeons gain a better understanding of parental experience in the face of an SCC diagnosis

Researchers surveyed 500 mothers and 430 fathers. About half of each group had healthy infants; the other half had a child with SSC. All completed the same survey about parental stress. The researchers speculated that with this particular deformity, stress levels would increase as months passed and the effects of the early surgery became clearer. Instead, they found few differences in the stress levels of parents involved in the study.

When the babies were about 9 months old, parents of affected infants reported more stress related to their child’s needs compared with parents of unaffected infants. These differences disappeared over the next two surveys, when children were about 18 and then 36 months old. However, mothers generally reported more stress than fathers when it came to spousal support and other factors that affected their relationship as parents. Over the months studied, mothers increasingly felt this stress, regardless of the health of the child.

All parents felt the same general stresses that come with the birth and early life of a child. “On average, parents of infants with SSC are doing about as well as parents of typically developing babies,” the study authors conclude.