title: Association between Optimism, Psychosocial Well Being and Oral Health: A Cross-Sectional Study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of the study was to assess the association of optimism and psychosocial well being of school going children on their oral health status.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study included 12- to 15-year-old school going children (N = 2014) from Tamilnadu, India. Optimism was measured using the revised version of the Life Orientation Test (LOT-R). A questionnaire was sent to the parents regarding their child's psychosocial behavior which included shyness, feeling inferiority, unhappiness and friendliness. Clinical examination for each child was done to assess the DMFT score and OHI-S score. The data obtained were statistically analyzed using Pearson Chi-Square test, Mann-Whitney test and Kruskal-Wallis test with the aid of SPSS software (version 17). Odds Ratio (OR) was calculated with 95% Confidence Interval (CI). The p value ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Boys with high optimism had significantly lesser DMFT score than the boys with low optimism (p=0.001). Girls with high optimism had significantly higher DMFT score (p=0.001). In psychosocial outcomes, inferiority (p=0.002) and friendliness (p=0.001) showed significant association with DMFT score. Among the boys, children who felt less inferior (p=0.001), less unhappy (p=0.029) and more friendly (p=0.001) had lesser DMFT score.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Among the psychosocial outcomes assessed, inferiority and friendliness had significant association with oral health of the children and hence, can be used as a proxy measures oral health.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Thiruvenkadam
authors.forename: Sharath
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Asokan
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Baby John
authors.forename: P R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Geetha Priya
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001290:Attitude; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004245:DMF Index; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D000067656:Optimism / Q000523:psychology*; D009909:Oral Health; D009911:Oral Hygiene Index; D012649:Self Concept; D012737:Sex Factors; D012792:Shyness; D012934:Social Isolation
keywords: Optimism; Oral health; Psychosocial well being