Hara Satomi, Watanabe Hiroko
Department of Children and Women's Health, The University of Osaka Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, JPN.
Cureus. 2025 Aug 5;17(8):e89444. doi: 10.7759/cureus.89444. eCollection 2025 Aug.
Background Plaque accumulation can lead to dental caries and periodontal disease and may reflect overall oral health status. As mothers are often the primary caregivers for children's oral hygiene, plaque in children may also serve as a proxy for caregiving quality. This study examined whether maternal emotional states are associated with the quality of caregiving, using children's plaque accumulation as a proxy indicator. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional questionnaire survey of 150 mothers of three-year-old children who had received dental checkups within the past year. The presence or absence of plaque was assessed by a dentist. Maternal emotions-burden, anxiety, and positive emotion-were measured using the Parenting Affect Scale. Multiple logistic regression analysis examined associations between maternal emotions and plaque presence, adjusting for parental oral health behaviors. Results The results showed that low maternal positive emotion (adjusted odds ratio (OR): 0.76, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.60-0.96) and low burden (adjusted OR: 0.91, 95% CI: 0.84-0.99) were associated with increased plaque accumulation. Conclusion These findings suggest that both low positive emotion and low perceived burden may indicate reduced emotional engagement in caregiving, potentially affecting care quality. Enhancing mothers' emotional investment in parenting may improve consistency in daily caregiving practices related to child health.
背景 牙菌斑堆积会导致龋齿和牙周疾病，并且可能反映整体口腔健康状况。由于母亲通常是儿童口腔卫生的主要照料者，儿童口腔中的牙菌斑也可作为照料质量的一个替代指标。本研究以儿童牙菌斑堆积作为替代指标，检验了母亲的情绪状态是否与照料质量相关。方法 我们对150名过去一年内带三岁孩子接受过牙齿检查的母亲进行了横断面问卷调查。由一名牙医评估牙菌斑的有无。使用育儿情感量表测量母亲的情绪——负担、焦虑和积极情绪。多元逻辑回归分析在调整父母口腔健康行为的基础上，检验了母亲情绪与牙菌斑存在之间的关联。结果 结果显示，母亲积极情绪较低（调整后的优势比（OR）：0.76，95%置信区间（CI）：0.60 - 0.96）和负担较轻（调整后的OR：0.91，95%CI：0.84 - 0.99）与牙菌斑堆积增加有关。结论 这些发现表明，积极情绪较低和感知负担较轻都可能表明在照料过程中情感投入减少，这可能会影响照料质量。增强母亲在育儿方面的情感投入可能会提高与儿童健康相关的日常照料行为的一致性。
