Using the child behavior checklist to determine associations between psychosocial aspects and TMD-related pain in children and adolescents

BACKGROUND: Since children and adolescents are frequently experiencing emotional and behavioral consequences due to pain, their parents should be aware of this emotional and behavioral status. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze and describe the parents’ reports of the emotional and behavioral status of children and adolescents with different types of temporomandibular disorders using the Child Behavior Checklist. METHODS: This Cross-sectional study comprises of 386 randomly selected children and adolescents that ages between 10 and 18 years in Jeddah. One day prior the clinical examination according to Research Diagnostic Criteria for temporomandibular disorders (TMD) Axis I and II, Arabic version of the Child Behavior Checklist scale was distributed to the parents of participant. According to the diagnosis, the participants were divided into three groups; non-TMD group, TMD-pain group, and TMD-painfree group. RESULTS: In regard to internalizing problems, the parents to the children and adolescents in the TMD-pain group rated a higher frequency of anxiety, depression and somatic complaints in their children than the parents of children in the non-TMD group (p < 0.05). Only one significant association regarding the externalizing problems was found for the aggressive behavior in the TMD-pain group. CONCLUSION: The parents rated that their children with TMD-pain suffer from emotional, somatic and aggressive behavior to a higher degree than healthy control subjects. Also, the parents believed that TMD-pain influenced their children’s physical activities but not social activities.