Table 2 Effects of hormone treatment on psychosocial functioning of children with idiopathic short stature.
| Study | Treatment group | Control group | Age at onset of treatment | Design | Baseline | Negative effects | No change | Improvement |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Huisman et al23 | 26 ISS | – | 5–15 years | Prospective: before and after 2 years GH treatment | = social anxiety, self‐concept (c), behaviour (p); ↑ physical appearance (c) | Physical appearance (c) | Social anxiety, self‐concept (c), behaviour (p) | |
| Boulton et al46 | 66 ISS | – | 5–15 years | Prospective: before, and after 6 and 24 months | = self‐concept | Children's attitudes to being short | ||
| Pilpel et al47 | 65 ISS | 33 ISS | 8–16 years (age of measurement) | Retrospective: comparison of CON and EXP after at least 2 years GH treatment | – | Relationships with family members (c) | = school achievements, leisure activities, self‐esteem, relationships with peers (c) | |
| 15 GHD | ||||||||
| 16 TS | ||||||||
| Rekers‐Mombarg et al48 | 24 ISS | 65 ISS | 19 years or older (age of measurement) | Retrospective: comparison of CON and EXP after GH treatment | – | Less often a spouse (c) | = education level, general health state, personality (c) | |
| Stabler et al51 | 59 ISS | 113 normal stature | 5–16 years | Prospective: comparison of CON and EXP before and yearly during 3 years GH treatment | = intelligence, achievement (c); ↑ internalising, externalising, and total problem behaviour, and all subscales of the CBCL (p) | Intelligence, achievement (c), withdrawn behaviour, somatic complaints, attention and thought problems, aggressive/delinquent behaviour (p) | Total problem behaviour, anxious/depressed behaviour, social problems (p) | |
| Downie et al49 | 15 short normal | 13 short normal | 7–8 years | Prospective: comparison of CON and EXP before and after 3 and 5 years GH treatment | = intelligence, attainment, self‐esteem (c), behaviour (p) | Intelligence, attainment, self‐esteem (c), behaviour (p) | ||
| 15 normal stature | ||||||||
| Theunissen et al8 | 18 ISS | 18 ISS | 4–10 years | Prospective: comparison of CON and EXP before and after 1 and 2 years GH treatment | = quality of life (p, c, ph), perception of self (c); ↓ social functioning (c) | Quality of life: vitality, scholastic competence, physical complaints (c), positive emotions (p) | Quality of life(p), social functioning, self‐esteem (c) | Quality of life (ph) |
| Ross et al52 | 37 ISS | 31 ISS placebo | 9–16 years | Prospective: comparison of CON and EXP before and during 4 years GH treatment | = behaviour (p), self‐concept (c) | Self‐concept (c) | Internalising, externalising, and total problem behaviour (c) | |
| Visser‐van Balen et al50 | 19 ISS/SGA | 19 ISS/SGA | 11–13 years | Prospective: comparison of CON and EXP before and yearly during 3 years GH treatment | = perceived competence, anxiety, personality, depressive mood (c), externalising behaviour (p); ↑ social and attention problems, anxious/depressed behavior (p) | Anxiety, scholastic competence, athletic competence (c) | Externalising behaviour, social and attention problems, anxious/depressed behaviour (p) |
ISS, idiopathic short stature; GHD, growth hormone deficiency; TS, Turner syndrome; SGA, born small for gestational age; CON, control group; EXP, experimental (treatment) group; CBCL, Child Behavior Check List
= same score compared to control group or general norms; ↑ higher score compared to control group; ↓ lower score compared to control group.
(p) parental reports; (c) children's self‐reports (perceived competence); (ph) physicians' reports.