ABSTRACT
This study was carried out to assess the Simple Scale's (using a 100-mm horizontal line between the poles of 'Low Anxiety--High Anxiety') clinical validity with an instrument of known reliability and validity (namely Spielberger's STAIC), with a Child's Dental Anxiety Scale, and with responses to a short Fear Statement questionnaire. By scoring episodes of 36 children undergoing dental treatment and then obtaining their self-reports, the Simple Scale was found to correlate significantly with the A-State score from the STAIC. Other significant correlations were found.
Subject(s)
Anxiety , Dental Care/psychology , Predictive Value of Tests , Adolescent , Child , Female , Humans , Male , Self-AssessmentABSTRACT
A major problem in studying anxiety is the quantification of the emotion. Perhaps the most utilized method of assessing a child's anxiety in the dental situation involves the use of rating scales. This study tested the validity and reliability of published Complex and Simple rating scales by using them in a test-retest, inter-observer assessment, with standard video-recordings of children undergoing dental treatment. Three dental professionals, a dental surgeon and two dental surgery assistants, tended to equate a child's dental anxiety with his ability to accept dental treatment. The use of rating scales needs practice and experience, as some of the components are more difficult to interpret, involving dimensions of mood or ambiguity.
