THE EFFECT OF PARENTAL DENTAL-HEALTH BEHAVIOR ON THAT OF THEIR ADOLESCENT OFFSPRING

This study was designed to investigate the effect of parental dental h ealth behavior on that of their adolescent offspring. The data stemmed from The Norwegian Longitudinal Health Behavior Study performed in 19 93 in the County of Hordaland in Norway and comprised separate questio nnaires for both parents and a 16-year-old child in 436 family units. A compound measure of parental dental health : behavior was applied in logistic regression analyses. The results showed that there were stat istically significant associations of use of dental ness, tooth brushi ng, and drinking of non-sugared mineral water among parents and their adolescent offspring. No significant gender interaction in the associa tion between same- or different-sex parent-adolescent dyads was observ ed. These findings indicate that parents function as social models for their offspring well into the adolescent period with regard to severa l dental health behaviors.