Family environment and traumatic dental injuries in adolescents

Sofia Sideri, Wagner Marcenes, Stephen A. Stansfeld, Eduardo Bernabé*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

9 Citations (Scopus)
233 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Background/Aims: No comprehensive assessment of the influence of the home environment on traumatic dental injuries (TDI) has been conducted to date. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between family environment and TDI among adolescents from East London. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study used data from 646 adolescents who participated in phase III of the Research with East London Adolescents Community Health Survey (RELACHS). Family environment was measured with four indicators (non-nuclear family, discordant parental relationship and levels of parental support and parental punishment) measured through a self-administered questionnaire. Clinical examinations were performed for TDI, overjet and lip coverage. Logistic regression was used to test the crude and adjusted (controlling for sociodemographic and clinical factors) association of each family environment characteristic with TDI prevalence. Results: Twenty-nine percent of adolescents were from non-nuclear families, and 52.3% reported a discordant parental relationship. The mean score for parental support was −0.01 (SD: 0.90, range: −0.11 to 0.08), and the mean parental punishment score was 0.03 (SD: 0.86, range: −0.04 to 0.10). Adolescents from non-nuclear families had 1.63 (95% confidence interval: 1.06-2.53) greater odds of having TDI than those from nuclear families. However, this association was fully attenuated after adjusting for sociodemographic and clinical factors. The other three indicators of family environment were not associated with TDI either in crude or adjusted regression models. Conclusion: This study found weak evidence of an association between family environment and TDI.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)438-444
Number of pages7
JournalDENTAL TRAUMATOLOGY
Volume34
Issue number6
Early online date16 Oct 2018
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2018

Keywords

  • adolescent
  • family characteristics
  • prevalence
  • tooth Injuries

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Family environment and traumatic dental injuries in adolescents'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this