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Attitudes towards oral health among parents of 6‐year‐old children at risk of developing caries
Author(s) -
Vermaire J.H.,
Hoogstraten J.,
Van Loveren C.,
Poorterman J.H.G.,
Van Exel N.J.A.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
community dentistry and oral epidemiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.061
H-Index - 101
eISSN - 1600-0528
pISSN - 0301-5661
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0528.2010.00558.x
Subject(s) - fatalism , medicine , oral health , dental health , positive attitude , family medicine , dental decay , developmental psychology , social psychology , psychology , philosophy , theology
Vermaire JH, Hoogstraten J, van Loveren C, Poorterman JHG, van Exel NJA. Attitudes towards oral health among parents of 6‐year‐old children at risk of developing caries. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol 2010; 38: 507–520. © 2010 John & Wiley & Sons A/S Abstract – Objectives: Parental attitudes are likely to play a role in achieving and maintaining a desired level of oral health in children. To be useful in individually delivered caries prevention programmes, parental attitudes should be identified at individual level. Q‐methodology has been proved successful in identifying attitudes in a wide range of disciplines but in dentistry Q‐studies are scarce. In this study Q‐methodology was used to identify parents’ prevailing attitudes towards the oral health of their children. Methods: Thirty‐nine parents ranked 37 statements regarding the dental health behaviour they apply to their 6‐year‐old child. They later explained their rankings during a short interview. In Q‐methodology, rather than reporting one average composite attitude and opinion, various combinations of opinions and attitudes concerning these statements are identified using by‐person factor analysis. Results: Based on their beliefs, attitudes and cognitions, five categories of parents were found: (i) conscious and responsible, (ii) trivializing and fatalistic, (iii) appearance‐driven and open‐minded, (iv) knowledgeable but defensive and (v) conscious and concerned. Conclusions: Q‐methodology appears to be a fruitful way to structure the complexity of parents’ opinions and attitudes towards their children’s dental health. It appears that Q‐methodology provides comprehensive clusters of individual attitudes, based on various levels of responses to a wide range of questions. The five identified profiles may be useful in developing tailor‐made prevention strategies in caries prevention.