This project will investigate the extent to which children's compliance with a fluoride mouthrinse program is predicted by their own health beliefs and past dental experiences and those of their mothers. It will also address how children's health beliefs and perceptions of dental treatment compare with those of their mothers' and whether children's compliance is better when left on their own or when their mothers intervene. To do so, health belief and dental experience questionnaires will be administered to parents and second grade children prior to and after participation in a 10-week daily at home fluoride mouthrinse program. Children will be divided into three experimental and one control group, in which parental reinforcement and self-management techniques will be varied. The experiment will be carried our in four urban and four surburban schools using a starting sample of 35 children in each school. Effectiveness of the different reinforcement techniques will be evaluated based on the children's compliance as measured by utilization of mouthrinse and continued program participation. A followup interview will be obtained of a random sample of parents andchildren to determine whether experimental groups remained distinct throughout the course of the study as intended. This study will provide information on he role of the parent in establishing health behavior and suggest mechanisms by which beneficial health habits might be encouraged and maintained.
NIH ExPorter
NIH ExPorter