Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between a child's behavior during dental radiographs and parenting style, age, and birth order of children.

Materials and Methods: Children/parents of children aged five to nine years presenting to UTHealth Post-graduate Pediatric Dental Clinic for new patient and periodic examinations were chosen. Parenting styles were assessed using the Comprehensive General Parenting Questionnaire (CGPQ) and children's behavior for dental radiographs was assessed using the Observational Scale of Behavioral Distress (OSBD). Parents also completed a demographic questionnaire, which was utilized to investigate the effect of age and birth order on behavior. Generalized linear model was used to analyze parent/child dyads. Results: 104 parent/child dyads were recruited. The mean parenting construct scores were nurturance (4.65), structure (4.14), behavior control (4.14), coercive control (2.80), and overprotection (3.88) and a total of 61 children exhibited at least one behavior on the OSBD scale; no significant relationship between parenting constructs and OSBD total score was noted. Parents that scored high in structure had children with less disruptive behavior (p=0.022). Crying was negatively associated with nurturance (p=0.024) whereas emotional support was positively associated with structure (p=0.05). Age was inversely related to crying with marginal significance (p=0.06). Pearson's Chi-squared test was utilized to find association between birth order and presence or absence of at least one behavior, where the youngest sibling had significantly better behavior (p=0.007), with more patients exhibiting no disruptive behaviors (p=0.039).

Conclusions: Parents who score high on nurturance seem to have a negative behavioral effect on children demonstrated by higher scores on OSBD scale, whereas, parents who scored higher on structure had children with lower scores on OSBD scale. Additionally, birth order has a significant effect on children's behavior, where the youngest in the family exhibits better behavior during radiographs.