Association Between Sleep Bruxism and Psychosocial Factors in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review

Objective. To summarize the association between sleep bruxism and psychosocial factors in children and adolescents. Design. Individual search strategies for five databases were developed. The references cited in the selected articles were checked and a partial gray literature search was undertaken. Only articles that used the international diagnostic criteria for sleep bruxism as proposed by the American Association of Sleep Medicine were included. Any form of reporting of psychosocial factors was considered. Results. Of the 44 retained articles, only 7 studies were finally included for the qualitative/quantitative synthesis. No evidence supportive of an association between sleep bruxism and psychosocial factors in children younger than 5 years emerged. A significant association was present in children between 6 and 11 years old and in adolescents 12 to 17 years old. Risk of bias was low-to-moderate in most of the included studies. Conclusion. The current available evidence suggests an association between sleep bruxism and psychological factors in children older than 6 years.