Family environment and traumatic dental injuries in adolescents.

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.