[Oral health-specific stress in parents of children with orofacial clefts: an indicator for general parenting stress]

Abstract

Aim: Parents of children with orofacial clefts take an active part in the rehabilitation of their children. Against this background, the aim of the present study was to determine the stress in parents of orthodontically treated children with and without orofacial clefts.

Method: For assessing oral health-specific stress in orthodontic treatment, a questionnaire was developed (FMB). General parenting stress was assessed by the Parenting Stress Index (PSI)-German Short Form. Parents of 54 orthodontically treated children with an orofacial cleft were included in the study. Parents of 44 healthy children served as controls. The questions of the FMB were generated on the basis of clinical practice and were factor analysed. The reliability was calculated and compared with the PSI for validation.

Results: The FMB questionnaire presented four factors regarding personal stress, stress within family life, temporal stress and financial stress. The inner consistency of each factor reached satisfactory results with a value of 0.7. Moreover, oral health-specific stress was significantly higher in parents of children with clefts compared to children without clefts. There was no difference in general parenting stress between the two groups. Moreover, both groups showed significant correlations between oral health-specific stress and general parenting stress.

Conclusion: Oral health-specific stress of children with orofacial clefts could be a hint on general parenting stress. Regarding parents in such stressful situations, the orthodontist should be trained in psychological counselling and should be able to cooperate with a clinical psychologist.