NORWEGIAN ADULTS PERCEIVED NEED FOR COPING SKILLS TO ADJUST TO DENTALAND NONDENTAL LIFE EVENTS

Limited attention has been paid to the importance which adults attach to dental, as opposed to other, life events. Consequently, the purpose of the present study was to determine how Norwegain adults rate the n eed for adjustment to cope with losing teeth or getting dentures, rela tive to some other life events, and to study effects of age, gender, l evel of education, place of residence, smoking, drinking and exercise habits. A representative, simple random sample of 400 residents of the County of Hordaland aged 20-69 yr received a mail questionnaire plus one reminder requesting demographic information and completion of a 48 -item Social Readjustment Rating Questionnaire (SRRQ) in May 1990. The mean age of the 284 who responded (71%) was 41.1 yr (SD = 13.5 yr). T he replies to the SRRQ were given on a graphic rating scale with end p oints ''not difficult at all'' (0 cm) and ''more difficult than anythi ng'' (20 cm). Mean values were calculated and used to rank the life ev ents. ''Losing one or more teeth'' was ranked 30 (xBAR = 11.8; SD= 5.6 ) and ''getting dentures'' 33 (xBAR = 13.8; SD = 5.5). ''Losing one or more teeth'' was on a par with life events like ''trouble with other relatives'' (xBAR = 11.7). ''Getting dentures'' occupied a position be tween ''trouble with wife/husband'' (xBAR = 14.3) and ''wife/husband s topping work'' (xBAR = 13.8). Multiple Classification Analysis reveale d significant effects of education on ''losing one or more teeth''; an d of age, sex and education on ''getting dentures'' (P < 0.05). Furthe rmore, it was found that these two dental life events required an abov e average degree of readjustment according to the Social Readjustment Rating Questionnaire.