Learning about Early Childhood Caries Prevention in a Latino Population

 描述(由申请人提供)：这项拟议的K99/R00职业发展奖申请将支持学术准备和独立研究职业生涯的启动，重点是与口腔健康相关的多水平因素，使用基于优势的方法来减少儿科口腔健康差异。儿童的口腔健康离不开家庭、社区和环境；因此，在任何儿童口腔健康的综合模式中都必须包含多层次的观点。我在K99阶段的研究将描述与ECC相关的母亲心理社会和行为因素，也将描述拉美裔儿童样本中的龋齿患病率。基础研究因素问卷(BRFQ)中的测量将用于描述科罗拉多州丹佛市学龄前儿童的拉丁裔母亲的心理社会和行为因素(例如，口腔健康控制点、健康信念、自我效能感、连贯感、压力、口腔健康的重要性、口腔健康知识和行为)。这项研究的结果将与BRFQ中使用类似测量方法的高危美国印第安人的结果进行比较。在R00阶段，将使用混合方法来描述无龋齿和活跃的城市居住的拉丁裔儿童在儿童、家庭和社区层面的差异。这一方法将捕捉BRFQ调查所衡量的因素，然后将使用定性方法进一步探索每个层面的特征。我将使用资产图，这是一种基于优势的方法，来描述保护性健康资产，这些资产增强个人、家庭、社区和社会系统维持和维持口腔健康的能力，并帮助减少高危和弱势群体中的口腔健康不平等。

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This proposed K99/R00 career development award application will support academic preparation and the initiation of an independent research career focused on multilevel factors associated with oral health using a strengths-based approach to reduce pediatric oral health disparities. The oral health of a child cannot be separated from family, community and the environment; thus it is vital to include a multilevel perspective in any comprehensive model of children's oral health. My research in the K99 phase will describe the maternal psychosocial and behavioral factors associated with ECC and also will describe the prevalence of dental caries in a sample of Latino children. Measures taken from the Basic Research Factors Questionnaire (BRFQ) will be used to describe psychosocial and behavioral factors (e.g., oral health locus of control, health beliefs, self- efficacy, Sense o Coherence, stress, importance of oral health, oral health knowledge and behaviors) in Latina mothers of preschool children in Denver, Colorado. The results of this study will be compared to that of a high-risk American Indian population in which similar measures from the BRFQ were used. During the R00 phase, a mixed methods approach will be used to describe the differences at child, family and community levels for caries-free and caries-active urban dwelling Latino children. This methodology will capture the factors measured by the BRFQ survey and then will use qualitative methods to further probe characteristics at each level. I will use asset mapping, which is one on the strengths-based approaches, to describe the protective health assets that enhance the ability of individuals, families, communities and social systems to maintain and sustain oral health and to help reduce oral health inequities in high risk and vulnerable groups.