Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-16-2022
Publication Title
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Volume
19
Issue
22
First page number:
1
Last page number:
19
Abstract
Adolescents from minority groups are particularly susceptible to poor oral hygiene behaviors, including lack of daily flossing. This cross-sectional study aimed to conduct an exploratory behavioral research to identify evidence-based (theory-based) approaches to promote flossing behavior among African American/Black and Latinx/Hispanic (minority) adolescents. A 39-item psychometrically valid web-based questionnaire was used to collect responses from a nationwide sample of minority adolescents aged 10–17 years residing in the United States. The data were analyzed using bivariate and multivariate statistical methods. Of 520 minority adolescents (260 African American/Black and 260 Latinx/Hispanic adolescents), the proportion of flossing was nearly equally split in the sample. A significantly higher proportion of minority adolescents who were flossing had access to floss as opposed to those who were not flossing (86.8% vs. 69.8%, p < 0.001). A significantly higher proportion of minority adolescents who were not flossing did not visit the dentist over the past year as opposed to those who floss (25.2% vs. 14.7%, p < 0.001). Among the participants who were not flossing, gender, grade level, instruction in school regarding flossing, and multi-theory model (MTM) of health behavior change constructs were the significant predictors (p < 0.001) of initiating and sustaining flossing. The findings of this study will serve as baseline data for developing and evaluating effective evidence-based interventions using the MTM.
Keywords
Oral health; Flossing; Adolescents; African American/black; Latinx/Hispanic adolescents; Health disparities
Disciplines
Dental Hygiene | Dental Public Health and Education | Pediatric Dentistry and Pedodontics
File Format
File Size
1516 KB
Language
English
Rights
IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Repository Citation
Sharma, M.,
Batra, K.,
Chen, C.,
Dai, C.,
Batra, R.,
Cappelli, D.
(2022).
Predicting Flossing through the Application of the Multi-Theory Model (MTM) of Health Behavior Change among Minority Adolescents in the United States.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(22),
1-19.
Available at:
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192215106
Included in
Dental Hygiene Commons, Dental Public Health and Education Commons, Pediatric Dentistry and Pedodontics Commons