Abstract

ROSA, Denise da et al. Maternal sense of coherence and oral health behaviors of preschool children. Psic., Saúde & Doenças [online]. 2022, vol.23, n.3, pp.640-653.  Epub Dec 31, 2022. ISSN 1645-0086.  https://doi.org/10.15309/22psd230305.

The salutogenic theory studies how and why people remain healthy even in adverse and stressful situations, having as central idea the sense of coherence (SOC). The higher the SOC, that is, the overall ability to see life, the more effectively the individual will be able to cope with the difficulties of life. This study aimed to verify the relationship between maternal SOC and behaviors related to oral health of pre-school children of ​​the city of Pelotas/RS. A cross-sectional study was carried out on a sample of children aged 2 to 5 years old and their mothers, attending in 12 health care centers randomly selected. A total of 534 dyads participated. Demographic information, socioeconomic status, oral hygiene and feeding habits of the child, use of dental services by the child, screening of common mental disorders of the mother and evaluation of the maternal sense of coherence were collected. The associations between outcome variables (frequency of eating sweet foods and drinks between meals, how the child's teeth are brushed and experience of dental consultation of the child) and maternal demographic, socioeconomic and psychosocial characteristics were assessed by multivariate analysis using Poisson regression analysis with robust variance (p<0.05). The prevalence of inadequately brushing the teeth (the child brushes the teeth alone or never brushed) was 70% higher among children whose mothers had less SOC than in children of mothers with more SOC. The findings indicate that maternal SOC may be a psychosocial indicator in the acquisition of appropriate oral hygiene habits in preschoolers.

Keywords : Sense of coherence; Oral health; Epidemiology.

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