Development of the self-efficacy scale for maternal oral care.
OBJECTIVE
This study's purpose was to develop a task-specific self-efficacy scale for maternal oral care (SESMO) with reliability and validity.


METHODS
A draft scale consisting of 36 items was designed and tested on 119 mothers at a dental clinic. Item analysis was performed to improve its accuracy by reducing the number of items. Internal consistency and test and retest stability were investigated. Concurrent validity was tested by examining associations of the SESMO score with the: general self-efficacy scale (GSES) score; number of decayed teeth; and frequency of tooth-brushing for children. Construct validity was examined by comparing the SESMO scores between mothers of children with caries at initial visit (Group 1) and those continuing regular dental checkups (Group 2).


RESULTS
The item analysis selected 16 items for the SESMO. Alpha coefficient of the SESMO was 0.82. Significant correlation was observed between tests and retests (r=0.74). There were significant associations between the SESMO score and GSES score (r=0.39); number of decayed teeth (r=-0.33); and frequency of brushing children's teeth (r=0.66). Group 2 had a significantly higher SESMO score than Group 1 (P<.001).


CONCLUSIONS
The SESMO showed high reliability and validity. This scale might endure with research applications in pediatric dental practice.
Kakudate
Naoki
N
Department of Epidemiology and Health Care Research, Graduate School of Medicine and Public Health, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan. kakudate.naoki.8a@kyoto-u.ac.jp
Morita
Manabu
M
Sugai
Makoto
M
Nagayama
Masato
M
Kawanami
Masamitsu
M
Sakano
Yuji
Y
Chiba
Itsuo
I
D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004245:DMF Index; D003729:Dental Care; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D005460:Fluorides, Topical / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006267:Health Education, Dental; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008875:Middle Aged; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D009909:Oral Health; D009910:Oral Hygiene; D020377:Self Efficacy; D014099:Toothbrushing
D005460:Fluorides, Topical