IADR Abstract Archives
Association between parental stress and early childhood caries
Objectives: Stress in the family unit during early childhood is considered a risk factor in early childhood caries. The aim of this study was to assess the association between parental stress and early childhood caries.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed in children between 3 and 5 years-of-age from eleven public preschools of Temuco, Chile. The Spanish version of Parenting Stress Index-Short Form (PSI-sf) previously adapted for the Chilean Spanish language was administered to their parents (Cronbach’s alpha 0.93). Parents report their level of agreement with 36 items that fall into three subscales: Parental Distress (PD); Parent-Child Dysfunctional Interaction (P-CDI); Difficult Child (DC). Parental stress was categorized as stress-free, indulgent and high level of stress. Clinical evaluation of dental caries was performed by calibrated dentists based on criteria proposed by the WHO. Statistics analysis included a descriptive analysis on the socio-demographic characteristics of the population and ANOVA test to evaluate the association between PSI-sf and dmft index.
Results: One hundred seventy-seven preschoolers were included. The mean age was 3.28 (SD 0.55). Sixty-eight percent of the parents were single female with a mean age of 29.9 (SD 6.37). The mean of dmft index of the children was 1.19 (SD 2.28). The PSI-sf showed no association between parental stress and ECC (p= 0.765). Children of indulgent parents showed a higher mean of dmft index in the P-CDI sub-scale, but it was not significant (p= 0.571)
Conclusions: Parental stress was not associated with a higher prevalence of ECC.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed in children between 3 and 5 years-of-age from eleven public preschools of Temuco, Chile. The Spanish version of Parenting Stress Index-Short Form (PSI-sf) previously adapted for the Chilean Spanish language was administered to their parents (Cronbach’s alpha 0.93). Parents report their level of agreement with 36 items that fall into three subscales: Parental Distress (PD); Parent-Child Dysfunctional Interaction (P-CDI); Difficult Child (DC). Parental stress was categorized as stress-free, indulgent and high level of stress. Clinical evaluation of dental caries was performed by calibrated dentists based on criteria proposed by the WHO. Statistics analysis included a descriptive analysis on the socio-demographic characteristics of the population and ANOVA test to evaluate the association between PSI-sf and dmft index.
Results: One hundred seventy-seven preschoolers were included. The mean age was 3.28 (SD 0.55). Sixty-eight percent of the parents were single female with a mean age of 29.9 (SD 6.37). The mean of dmft index of the children was 1.19 (SD 2.28). The PSI-sf showed no association between parental stress and ECC (p= 0.765). Children of indulgent parents showed a higher mean of dmft index in the P-CDI sub-scale, but it was not significant (p= 0.571)
Conclusions: Parental stress was not associated with a higher prevalence of ECC.