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. 2024 Mar 11;11(3):333.
doi: 10.3390/children11030333.

Parental Attitudes towards Child Oral Health and Their Structural Analysis

Apolinaras Zaborskis  1 , Jaunė Razmienė  2 , Augustė Razmaitė  2 , Vilija Andruškevičienė  2 , Julija Narbutaitė  2 , Eglė Aida Bendoraitienė  2 , Aistė Kavaliauskienė  3
Affiliations

Parental Attitudes towards Child Oral Health and Their Structural Analysis

Apolinaras Zaborskis et al. Children (Basel). .

Abstract

The relationship between parental attitudes towards health and child development has been a topic of interest for many years; however, research results in this field are still inconsistent. This study aimed to develop a structural equation model of the Parental Attitudes toward Child Oral Health (PACOH) scale, using this model to analyse the relationship between parental attitudes with demographic variables and the oral health-related behaviour of parents and children. A total of 302 parents (87% mothers) answered questions regarding their own and their children's, aged 4-7 years, oral health-related actions and completed the 38-item PACOH scale. The structural equation model indicated that parental attitudes captured by the PACOH scale can be fitted to a second-order factorial model, even with the scale shortened to 21 items. The model demonstrated good fit characteristics (CFI = 0.925; IFI = 0.927; GFI = 0.915; RMSEA = 0.049), making it a reliable tool for examining the structure of parental attitudes. This model was employed in the multi-group analysis, revealing the close relationship between positive parents' attitudes towards their child's oral health and oral health-promoting behaviour both in parents and children, such as regular tooth brushing (p < 0.001), visiting the dentist (p = 0.027), and parents helping their child brush his/her teeth (p < 0.001). In light of these findings, it was concluded that Parental Attitudes towards Child Oral Health should be considered an essential factor influencing the development of oral health-promoting behaviour in children.

Keywords: children; oral health; parental attitudes; scales; second-order factor model; structural analysis; tooth brushing.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Path diagram of the structural model of the original 38-item scale of Parental Attitude towards Child Oral Health. Dimensions (TB: Parental attitudes towards child tooth brushing behaviour; SS: Parental attitudes towards child sugar snacking; DD: Parental attitudes towards child dental decay) are second-order factors; TB1, TB2, TB3, SS1, SS2, DD1, DD2, and DD3 are first-order factors; rectangles symbolise measured variables (respondents’ opinions about the statements presented in the questionnaire); and ellipses symbolise structural and measurement residuals. The path coefficients leading from the second-order factors to the first-order factors are called structural weights, while the path coefficients leading from the first-order factors to the measured variables are called measurement weights. Correlation coefficients between dimensions are placed next to the two end arcs.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Path diagram of the structural model of the shortened (21-item) scale of Parental Attitudes towards Child Oral Health. Dimension TB: Parental attitudes towards child tooth brushing behaviour; Dimension SS: Parental attitudes towards child sugar snacking; Dimension DD: Parental attitudes towards child dental decay.
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