Online and offline social support interfaces and their association with multiple domains of oral health-related quality of life in adolescents

Abstract Aim To evaluate the relationship of online and offline social support with adolescents’ oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) and OHRQoL specific domains. Methods This is a cross-sectional study nested in a 12-year follow-up cohort conducted in southern Brazil. Data from 406 adolescents aged 13–17 years who participated in the last follow-up was analyzed OHRQoL was evaluated by the Brazilian short version of the Child Perception Questionnaire (CPQ11-14). Online and offline social capital was measured according to social interactions and feelings of trust and belonging. Poisson regression models adjusted for confounders were performed to estimate rate ratios (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of the association of the interaction between online and offline social support with CPQ11-14 overall and domain scores. Results Adolescents with low levels of offline and online social support are expected to have higher scores of overall CPQ11-14 (RR: 1.22; 95CI% 1.06–1.41), emotional well-being (RR: 1.62; 95CI% 1.26–2.07), and social well-being (RR: 1.66; 95CI% 1.17–2.36) than those with high offline and online social support. Adolescents with high levels of offline social support and low levels of online social support also presented higher mean scores of overall CPQ11-14 (RR: 1.07; 95CI% 1.01–1.15) and emotional well-being (RR: 1.25; 95CI% 1.10–1.42). Conclusion Offline and online social capital were related to poor OHRQoL in adolescents. Online social support was of greater importance to adolescent’s overall OHRQoL and emotional well-being.