The role of parental rearing practices and family demographics on oral health-related quality of life in children

To evaluate the direct and indirect (via oral health-related behaviour) effects of parental rearing practices on children's Oral Health-Related Quality of Life (OHRQoL) within a family-focused, comprehensive predictive model. Participants were 11- to 14-year-old children and their parents living in Telangana State, India (N = 1130). Children were clinically assessed for dental caries, gingivitis, oral hygiene status, fluorosis, and malocclusion, and completed a self-administered questionnaire on oral health-related behaviour and OHRQoL. Parents answered questions related to their socioeconomic status (SES), family circumstances, parent's perceptions of child's OHRQoL, and child rearing practices. Structural equation modelling was used to evaluate the pathways through which parenting practices were associated with children's OHRQoL. Parents with higher positive (beta = -0.106) and lower power assertion rearing practices (beta = 0.103) had children with better OHRQoL. Parental rearing practices did not have any effect on children's oral hygiene behaviour. Children who had malocclusion (beta = 0.076) and fluorosis (beta = 0.38) had lower OHRQoL. Family SES had a significant effect on children's oral hygiene behaviour and oral hygiene status with children of higher SES demonstrating better oral hygiene behaviour and status. Children living in single-parent families reported poorer oral hygiene behaviour (beta = -0.048) than those living in other types of families. Parental rearing practices had direct effects on OHRQoL. However, the hypothesised indirect effects of these practices on OHRQoL via poor oral health behaviour were not supported.