222 - The Relationship Between Parenting Style, Parenting Stress, Child Dental Behavior and Caries in Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders

The Relationship Between Parenting Style, Parenting Stress, Child Dental Behavior and Caries in Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to evaluate if any association exists between the parenting style, parental stress and dental behavior and caries status of children with various behavioral disorders.

Methods:
Participants in the study will be identified from patients that schedule an appointment at the University of Louisville Graduate Pediatric Dentistry clinic for their first dental visit. The patients will be three to twelve-years-old; English-speaking with various behavioral disorders.
Patients will be scheduled with a calibrated pediatric dental resident who will perform the caries examination and behavior assessment. Examining pediatric dentists will use clinical and radiographic criteria to assess caries. The examiners will be blind to parenting style and parental stress. The parents will be informed about the study by principal investigators and if they agree to participate, will fill out the necessary questionnaire to determine their parenting style. The questionnaire that will be used is called the Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire (PSDQ) and Parenting Stress Index Questionnaire (PSIQ). The behavioral scale that will be used is the Frankl scale.
Expected

Results:
The results from the study should include a sample size of around 130 groups of parents and children. The results will be divided into positive and negative behavior, based on Frankl scores. The authoritative parenting style is expected to correlate with better behavior in the dental chair as well as fewer caries.
Expected

Conclusions:
Authoritative-style parenting will lead to the most cooperative behaviors and fewer caries as compared to authoritarian and permissive parenting styles.