Are parents of high caries risk Dutch children motivated to brush their children’s teeth? An assessment using the health action process approach questionnaire

K. A. van Nes*, C. C. Bonifácio, M. M. van Hunnik, C. van Loveren, I. H.A. Aartman

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Purpose: To assess the social cognitive constructs of the Health Action Process Approach (HAPA) of parents of high caries risk children to be treated under intravenous sedation (IVS) or with behavioural guidance techniques (BGT), and to assess the changes in these constructs for each treatment group after treatment. Design: In this cohort study, 160 children aged 3–10 years were allocated by their paediatric dentist to either IVS (77.4%) or BGT. Their parents filled out a HAPA questionnaire, before (T1, n = 160), immediately (T2, n = 108) and three months (T3, n = 71) after their children's dental rehabilitation. Results: Before treatment, all parents had high scores on all social cognitive constructs. There were no differences in mean HAPA scores between the treatment groups (p > 0.05). After treatment, mean scores changed in both groups. In the BGT group, action self-efficacy changed from 3.64 (T1) to 3.36(T2) (p = 0.027) and to 3.13 (T3) (p = 0.021) and coping self-efficacy changed from 3.63 (T1) to 3.23 (T2) (p = 0.015). In the IVS group, action planning changed from 3.25 (T1) to 3.05(T3) (p = 0.036) and action control changed from 2.58 (T1) to 2.82 (T2) (p = 0.012) and to 2.87 (T3) (p = 0.006). Conclusions: High scores on social cognitive constructs of parents of children referred to a paediatric dentist showed that they seem to be motivated to brush their children’s teeth, irrespective of the treatment group. Small changes were observed in the HAPA constructs, however, these are not considered clinically relevant.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)591-601
Number of pages11
JournalEuropean Archives of Paediatric Dentistry
Volume24
Issue number5
Early online date23 Jul 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors would like to acknowledge the dental students that contributed during data collection, as well as the staff members of Dentics Almere and all parents for participating in the research.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, The Author(s).

Funding

The authors would like to acknowledge the dental students that contributed during data collection, as well as the staff members of Dentics Almere and all parents for participating in the research.

Keywords

  • Caries risk children
  • Health action process approach
  • Oral health behaviour
  • Parents
  • Social cognitive constructs

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