Motivating parents to prevent caries in their young children: One-year findings

TitleMotivating parents to prevent caries in their young children: One-year findings
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2004
AuthorsWeinstein, P, Harrison, R, Benton, T
JournalJournal of the American Dental Association
Volume135
Pagination731-738
Date PublishedJun
Publication Languageeng
ISBN Number0002-8177 (Print)0002-8177 (Linking)
Accession Number15270155
KeywordsAsia, Southeastern/ethnology, Attitude to Health, British Columbia, Child, Preschool, Counseling, Dental Care for Children/*psychology, Dental Caries/*prevention & control, Female, Health Education, Dental/*methods, Humans, Infant, Interviews as Topic, Logistic Models, Male, Mothers/education/*psychology, Motivation, Preventive Dentistry/*methods
Abstract

BACKGROUND: The authors conducted a study to compare the effect of a motivational interviewing counseling treatment with that of traditional health education on parents of young children at high risk of developing dental caries. OVERVIEW: The authors enrolled in the study parents of 240 infants aged 6 to 18 months and randomly assigned them to either a motivational interviewing, or MI, group or a traditional health education (control) group. Parents in the control group received a pamphlet and watched a video. Parents in the MI group also received the pamphlet and watched the video; in addition, they received a personalized MI counseling session and six follow-up telephone calls. RESULTS: After one year, children in the MI group had .71 new carious lesions (standard deviation, or SD, = 2.8), while those in the control group had 1.91 (SD = 4.8) new carious lesions (t[238] = 2.37, one-tailed, P < .01). CONCLUSIONS: MI is a promising approach that should receive further attention. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: MI may lead parents and others to better accept dental recommendations about preventing caries in their children.

URLhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Citation&list_uids=15270155
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