Longitudinal Analysis of Child Resilience Link to Dental Caries

To investigate the association between parent-child interactions in the first grade, child resilience in the second grade, and dental caries incidence in the fourth grade of elementary school. The longitudinal data of 3,168 children from the Adachi Child Health Impact of Living Difficulty (A-CHILD) study were analyzed. In 2015, caregivers of all first-grade public elementary school children in Adachi City, Tokyo, Japan, provided answers about their parenting behaviors. In the second grade, child resilience and oral health behaviors were measured. The incidence of dental caries in the fourth grade was assessed during mandatory dental checkups at school. Structural equation modeling was applied. Parent-child interactions at the first-grade was associated with higher resilience of children in second grade (standardized coefficient [β] equals 0.402; 95 percent confidence interval [95% CI] equals 0.357 to 0.446), which was associated with favorable oral health behavior in the same year (β equals 0.236, 95% CI equals 0.159 to 0.313). Favorable oral health behavior was inversely associated with dental caries incidence in the fourth grade (β equals -0.108, 95% CI equals -0.170 to -0.045). Parent-child interactions were associated with improved resilience and fewer incidents of dental caries in children.