Using rewards to improve children’s behaviour in the dental setting
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Can rewards be used to increase cooperative behaviour in children attending the dentist? Identifying suitable rewards and exploring the effect of using rewards on cooperative behaviour.
IRAS ID
117033
Contact name
J T Newton
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
King's College London
Research summary
This study comprises two parts.
Part 1 will ascertain children’s preferences for certain ‘rewards’ such as toys and games.
Part 2 will explore whether giving the child the ‘reward’ increases the likelihood of the child being cooperative.The first part of this study will help us to identify what can be used as a ‘reward’ for children. We will ask 60 children to pick a prize from a list of 10 possibilities, eg stickers, balls, pens etc. We will recruit 20 children from each of three age groups (4-5 years, 6-7 years, 8 years). We will also ask the child’s caregiver to make an independent choice of ‘reward’ in order to determine whether caregivers can make accurate choices for their child. We will determine the top 5 ‘rewards’ for each age group using the children’s choices. We will also compare the choices made by children and their caregivers.
Part 2 will recruit 15 children aged 4-8 years attending the dentist. They will be shown the 5 rewards appropriate to their age group from part 1. We will explain that if the child cooperates with dental treatment they will receive the reward. In order to make it clear to the child what is expected of them and to help them remember the reward during treatment we will use a ‘token economy’ – each child will be given a sheet with four behaviours and four boxes on it, we will explain that if the child shows us each behaviour we will put a sticker in the box. If at the end of treatment they have all four boxes filled, they will receive the ‘reward’. During treatment we will video record the child’s behaviour and then make an independent rating of the extent of the child’s cooperation.
REC name
London - Bromley Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/LO/0377
Date of REC Opinion
2 Sep 2014
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion