Application of the Theory of Planned Behavior to Predict Dental Attendance and Caries Experience among Children of Newcomers

Maryam Amin, Maryam Elyasi, Babak Bohlouli and Mohamed ElSalhy
Additional contact information
Maryam Amin: School of Dentistry, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2R7, Canada
Maryam Elyasi: School of Dentistry, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2R7, Canada
Babak Bohlouli: Department of Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2R7, Canada
Mohamed ElSalhy: College of Dental Medicine, University of New England, Portland, ME 04103, USA

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 19, 1-9

Abstract: Background: This study aimed to explore the predictors of regular dental attendance behavior and caries experience among children of newcomers to Canada using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). Methods: A total of 274 newcomer parents with a child aged 1 to 12 years old who had lived in Canada for 10 years or less participated in this cross-sectional study. Children underwent a dental examination to measure their deft/DEFT, and parents completed a self-administered questionnaire. Parental attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control (PBC), and intention were examined using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) as predictors of dental attendance behavior and caries experience using the TPB model. Results: Out of all the components of the model, attitude and PBC significantly predicted the intention ( p < 0.05) while the subjective norm had no statistical effects on the loading of the model ( p > 0.05). Intention significantly predicted behavior, but behavior could not predict caries experience. Although 51.6% of the variance of intention was predicted by this model, only 0.2% of the variance for dental attendance behavior was explained. Conclusions : The theory of planned behavior was successful in predicting dental attendance intention and behavior for children among newcomers, but this behavior could not predict caries experience in children.

Keywords: dental attendance; children; structural equation modeling; theory of planned behavior (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/19/3661/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/19/3661/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:19:p:3661-:d:271943

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().