Covariates of tooth-brushing frequency in low-income African Americans from grades 5 to 8.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to examine tooth-brushing frequency in 575 urban and nearby suburban African American children as part of a comprehensive risk-reduction study for students at high risk for violence, drugs, school delinquency, and unsafe sexual behaviors to determine which covariates predicted tooth-brushing frequency.


METHODS
Students were surveyed 5 times, from the beginning of grade 5 and the end of each year through grade 8, and parents were surveyed at the beginning of grade 5. Peer influence, importance of being liked, self-esteem, attitudes towards tooth-brushing, oral health knowledge, self-efficacy, parental attitudes, and other covariates were examined for the ability to predict self-reporting of tooth-brushing frequency.


RESULTS
In the fifth grade, peer influence, the importance of being liked, and physical self-esteem were the significant predictors, and peer influence continued to predict tooth-brushing in the eighth grade. Oral health knowledge and parental influence were not significant.


CONCLUSIONS
Peer influence is an important factor in tooth-brushing behavior in metropolitan African American preadolescent children.
Koerber
A
A
Behavioral Science, College of Dentistry, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA. akoerber@uic.edu
Graumlich
S
S
Punwani
I C
IC
Berbaum
M L
ML
Burns
J L
JL
Levy
S R
SR
Cowell
J M
JM
Flay
B R
BR
D000293:Adolescent; D001741:Black or African American; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002641:Chicago; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D015438:Health Behavior; D006267:Health Education, Dental; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology; D010379:Peer Group; D011203:Poverty; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012649:Self Concept; D020377:Self Efficacy; D012928:Social Desirability; D018881:Suburban Health; D014099:Toothbrushing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014504:Urban Health