Parental psychosocial factors and childhood caries prevention: Data from an American Indian population

Abstract

Objectives: The objective of this study was to examine the association among psychological and social variables reported by American Indian parents/caregivers of preschool children and changes in their Oral Health Knowledge and Behaviors related to care of their children's teeth. We also investigated the relationship of these factors with progression of caries, as reflected by changes in their children's dmfs.

Methods: The data used for this study were collected at baseline in a clinical trial of an oral health promotion intervention comprising behavioural and clinical interventions for caries prevention delivered by tribal members on a large Southwestern American Indian reservation. Linear regression analyses were performed for changes (baseline to Year 1) in dmfs, Oral Health Knowledge and Oral Health Behavior scores, with baseline psychosocial measures, taken individually, as the independent variables.

Results: Parents' attitudes and beliefs were associated with increases in their Oral Health Knowledge and Behavior and also with the progression of caries for their children. When all participants were considered together, increases in children's dmfs were smaller when the caregiver had higher Internal Oral Health Locus of Control (e = -1.33, P = .004), higher Health Literacy (e = -1.55, P < .01), and higher Financial Stability (e = -4.46, P = .03), and lower scores for the Barriers subscale (e = 1.57, P < .01) of the Health Belief Model. For parents in the Intervention group, higher scores on Locus of Control, reflecting beliefs that chance, or other people determine their children's oral health, were associated with larger increases in Oral Health Knowledge (e = 1.73, P = .04) and Behaviors (e = 4.00, P = .005).

Conclusions: Prevention of early childhood caries in American Indian children has proved to be especially challenging. Some of the measures identified in this report may suggest promising directions to prevention through approaches that build on competencies and skills to be learned and used within a context more broadly focused on parenting and management of health and family challenges.

Keywords: Oral Health Behavior; Oral Health Knowledge; Oral Health Locus of Control; dental caries.