Parental Influences on Children’s Oral Health Behaviors, Reading Behaviors, and Reading Attitudes Associated with the Sharing of a Digital Story from the eBook for Oral Health Literacy© Curriculum

Abstract

This study investigated the relationships between parents and their children on oral health behaviors, reading behaviors, reading attitudes, and liking perceptions of one chapter from an eBook curriculum intervention. A Qualtrics platform was used to survey 316 parent-child dyads across the United States before and after the shared reading of one chapter from the eBook for Oral Health Literacy© entitled “Setting Goals for Going to the Dentist”. Participants answered 75 questions about their teeth brushing and flossing behaviors, number of cavities, how often they visited libraries and bookstores, enjoyment of reading, and perceptions (liking) of the words and pictures of the chapter that they read and heard. Statistically significant relationships were found between parents and their children on oral health behaviors (χ² = 49.12, p < 0.001); reading behaviors (χ² = 10.4, p < 0.01), reading attitudes (χ² = 8.773, p < 0.01), and perception (liking) of the eBook chapter that they read and heard (χ² = 113.813, p < 0.01). Results from 301 parent-child dyads point to the importance of social modeling that parents play in the development of their children’s oral health behaviors, reading behaviors, and reading attitudes. Testing of additional chapters from the eBook intervention is warranted.