IADR Abstract Archives
Influence of Researchers on Mother-Child Dental Experience
Objectives: The impact of research participation is relatively unknown. Intentions are to avoid participation effects on outcomes. Over the course of a longitudinal study, visit attendance, connections with researchers, and awareness of research topics may influence participant behavior. We examined whether the relationship with the researchers in a multi-year longitudinal dental study influenced mothers’ behaviors related to child oral health.
Methods: We performed a cross-sectional semi-structured qualitative study on the impact of mothers’ social networks on children’s oral health-related behaviors. In 2018-2019, we conducted 70 in-person interviews with mothers of children, ages 3-5, who were enrolled in the longitudinal Center for Oral Health Research in Appalachia study. This study included annual in-person child dental assessments. Qualitative data were transcribed, coded, and analyzed using a grounded theory approach.
Results: Mothers included researchers as members of their social network related to child oral health. Relationships with researchers influenced mothers’ awareness of their child’s oral health status, dental utilization, and oral hygiene. Two subthemes arose related to child dental utilization: 1) The child’s ability to cope with dental settings improved with subsequent dental assessments with the researchers; and 2) Mothers believed they were encouraged to take their child to the dentist by researchers; and asked researchers for dentist recommendations.
Conclusions: In spite of attempts to be neutral, longitudinal dental studies can set the stage for a trusting relationship between researchers and participants, through which the mother can become aware of her child’s dental caries status, witness her child become desensitized to the dental setting and obtain oral health information. As a result, dental researchers can be influential members of mothers’ social networks for their children. Participation in dental research may therefore be beneficial to participants. Researchers may need to factor in potential influences on research outcomes in designing studies and interpreting study results.
Methods: We performed a cross-sectional semi-structured qualitative study on the impact of mothers’ social networks on children’s oral health-related behaviors. In 2018-2019, we conducted 70 in-person interviews with mothers of children, ages 3-5, who were enrolled in the longitudinal Center for Oral Health Research in Appalachia study. This study included annual in-person child dental assessments. Qualitative data were transcribed, coded, and analyzed using a grounded theory approach.
Results: Mothers included researchers as members of their social network related to child oral health. Relationships with researchers influenced mothers’ awareness of their child’s oral health status, dental utilization, and oral hygiene. Two subthemes arose related to child dental utilization: 1) The child’s ability to cope with dental settings improved with subsequent dental assessments with the researchers; and 2) Mothers believed they were encouraged to take their child to the dentist by researchers; and asked researchers for dentist recommendations.
Conclusions: In spite of attempts to be neutral, longitudinal dental studies can set the stage for a trusting relationship between researchers and participants, through which the mother can become aware of her child’s dental caries status, witness her child become desensitized to the dental setting and obtain oral health information. As a result, dental researchers can be influential members of mothers’ social networks for their children. Participation in dental research may therefore be beneficial to participants. Researchers may need to factor in potential influences on research outcomes in designing studies and interpreting study results.