Association between parenting styles and children's dental anxiety: insights from the Malaysian context

Parenting styles have significant influence on child behaviour development, including their response to dental visits. Existing literatures have identified an association between parenting styles and children's dental anxiety; however, no studies have explored this relationship within a Malaysian context. Given the cultural and societal variations in parenting practices, further investigation is needed to identify the parenting styles practiced among Malaysian parents and their correlation with children’s dental anxiety. This study aims to investigate the correlation between parenting styles of Malaysian parents and their children's dental anxiety. It involved the translation of the Parenting Styles and Dimension Questionnaire (PSDQ) to use in the Malaysian context. The translated questionnaire underwent content validation by six experts and face validation among 30 adult participants to ensure clarity and cultural appropriateness. A validated Malay version of the PSDQ was then used to assess parenting styles, while children’s dental anxiety was measured using the Modified Child Dental Anxiety Scale (MCDASf). A total of 239 child-parent pairs attending the Pediatric Dental Clinic at Universiti Teknologi MARA(UiTM) and the University Malaya (UM) were recruited using consecutive sampling method. Children aged between 5 to 12 years old were included, while those with cognitive impairments were excluded. Data collection was conducted from September 2023 to June 2024. Parents were required to complete the sociodemographic data and PSDQ instrument. The investigator distributed and guided the children to answer the Modified Child Dental Anxiety Score (MCDASf). Data analysis was performed using SPSS version 32. The content validity index per item was 0.89, and the total mean clarity score of the face validation was 0.68. Cronbach’s alpha for the PSDQ items was 0.568. In the pilot study, the Authoritative domain recorded the highest mean score (mean = 4.26, ±SD = 0.40), indicating that parents predominantly exhibited authoritative parenting behaviours compared to other styles. The actual study revealed that 90% of the parents exhibited authoritative parenting (n=230). A weak correlation was observed between parenting styles and MCDASf score (p<0.05). These findings suggest that parenting style alone may not be a strong determinant of dental anxiety in children. Nevertheless, the study highlights the need for tailored parental education and intervention programmes to equip parents with effective strategies for reducing dental anxiety in children.