Children's dental fear and anxiety: exploring family related factors
- PMID: 29866080
- PMCID: PMC5987456
- DOI: 10.1186/s12903-018-0553-z
Children's dental fear and anxiety: exploring family related factors
Abstract
Background: Dental fear and anxiety (DFA) is a major issue affecting children's oral health and clinical management. This study investigates the association between children's DFA and family related factors, including parents' DFA, parenting styles, family structure (nuclear or single-parent family), and presence of siblings.
Methods: A total of 405 children (9-13 years old) and their parents were recruited from 3 elementary schools in Hong Kong. Child's demographic and family-related information was collected through a questionnaire. Parents' and child's DFA were measured by using the Corah Dental Anxiety Scale (CDAS) and Children Fear Survey Schedule-Dental Subscale (CFSS-DS), respectively. Parenting styles were gauged by using the Parent Authority Questionnaire (PAQ).
Results: DFA was reported by 33.1% of children. The mean (SD) CFSS-DS score was 29.1 (11.0). Children with siblings tended to report DFA (37.0% vs. 24.1%; p = 0.034) and had a higher CFSS-DS score (29.9 vs. 27.4; p = 0.025) as compared with their counterpart. Children from single-parent families had lower CFSS-DS score as compared with children from nuclear families (β = - 9.177; p = 0.029). Subgroup analysis showed a higher CFSS-DS score among boys with siblings (β = 7.130; p = 0.010) as compared with their counterpart; girls' from single-parent families had a lower CFSS-DS score (β = - 13.933; p = 0.015) as compared with girls from nuclear families. Children's DFA was not associated with parents' DFA or parenting styles (p > 0.05).
Conclusions: Family structure (nuclear or single-parent family) and presence of siblings are significant determinants for children's DFA. Parental DFA and parenting style do not affect children's DFA significantly.
Keywords: Children; Dental anxiety; Dental fear; Family factors; Parenting styles; Parents.
Conflict of interest statement
Ethics approval and consent to participate
The protocol of this study was reviewed by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of the University of Hong Kong/Hospital Authority Hong Kong West Cluster. An ethical approval was obtained (#UW16–130). Informed written consent was taken from both parents of each participating child.
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
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