Parental decisions about children's oral health behaviour: relative or absolute?

OBJECTIVES: To test the extent to which parents' judgements about their children's oral health behaviour conform to the principles of a specific theory of cognitive decision making - Range-frequency Theory.

METHODS: Experimental study with an opportunity sample of 121 parents of young children (3-6 years old) living in areas of relative deprivation in South Wales. Parents were allocated to four different experimental groups, and each completed a pen-and-paper exercise, which involved being presented with (and rating) how often other parents brushed their children's teeth. The brushing frequencies presented varied between the groups, directly test the rank and range principle of Range-frequency Theory.

RESULTS: Parents' ratings of other toothbrushing frequencies were predicted by the range and rank principle of Range-frequency Theory. A comparison between Group 1 and Group 2 showed that parents' ratings of similar brushing frequencies were affected by their relative rank among other brushing frequencies presented. A comparison between Group 3 and Group 4 showed that parents in a group who were presented with a very high brushing frequency (21 times a week) rated all other brushing frequencies as relatively less healthy than the comparison group.

CONCLUSIONS: The principles of Range-frequency Theory predicted parents' judgement about children's oral health behaviour - specifically toothbrushing frequency. These findings provide a theoretical framework on which to develop future oral health education and interventions aimed at promoting twice-daily toothbrushing to parents of young children.