Promoting regular parental supervised toothbrushing: An additive intervention design adopting the Health Action...

Area of Science:

• Health Psychology
• Behavioral Science
• Public Health

Background:

• Parental supervised toothbrushing is crucial for preschooler oral hygiene.
• The Health Action Process Approach (HAPA) provides a framework for behavior change interventions.
• Understanding determinants of parental toothbrushing behavior is essential for effective health promotion.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy of core Health Action Process Approach (HAPA) elements in an intervention designed to promote regular supervised toothbrushing in preschool-aged children.
• To assess the cumulative impact of information provision, self-efficacy, planning, and action control strategies on parental toothbrushing behavior.
• To investigate changes in HAPA-based social cognition constructs, including intention, task self-efficacy, and action planning.

Main Methods:

• A randomized controlled trial with an additive design involving 254 Australian parents of preschoolers.
• An online intervention delivered in four progressively layered conditions: education, self-efficacy, planning, and action control.
• Self-report measures of parental supervised toothbrushing and HAPA constructs administered pre-intervention and 4 weeks post-intervention.

Main Results:

• No significant intervention effects on parental supervised toothbrushing behavior were observed.
• Significant increases in intention and task self-efficacy were found within the action control condition.
• Significant increases in action planning were observed in both the planning and action control conditions from pre-intervention to follow-up.

Conclusions:

• While the intervention did not significantly alter toothbrushing behavior, it positively influenced key HAPA determinants such as intention, action planning, and task self-efficacy.
• Theory- and evidence-based behavior change strategies, aligned with the HAPA, show promise in modifying psychosocial precursors to parental supervised toothbrushing.
• Further research may be needed to optimize interventions for sustained behavioral change in parental oral hygiene practices.