Psychosocial factors in the development of sleep bruxism among children

Objectives: To assess the prevalence of nocturnal bruxism in children and to determine the influence of psychosocial factors in the development of this habit.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out, analyzing a representative sample of 652 randomly selected children aged 7-10 years from public and private schools in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The instruments used were: Questionnaire to parents, Child Stress Scale (ESI) and the scales on neuroticism and responsibility from the Big Five Questionnaire for Children (BFQ-C). The Social Vulnerability Index from the city hall's database was used to determine the social classification of the families. The chi-squared test and binary logistic regression were used with a significance level of 5%.

Results: The prevalence of bruxism was 35.3%. There was no association between stress, gender, age and social vulnerability. The adjusted logistic model determined that children with high levels of neuroticism (OR=1.9; CI 95% 1.3-2.6) and responsibility (OR=2.2; CI 95% 1.0-5.0) are twice as likely to have the habit of nocturnal bruxism when compared to those who have low levels of these personality traits. The logistic model demonstrated no association with stress.

Conclusions: The habit of nocturnal bruxism among children is associated to a high degree of responsibility and neuroticism, which are personality traits of the individual.