Dental anxiety in relation to emotional and behavioral problems in Croatian adolescents

The investigation was performed on 113 adolescents in the age between 15 and 18 years (63 boys, 50 girls). Corah Dental Anxiety Scale (CDAS) and Children's Fear Survey Schedule - Dental Subscale (CFSS-DS) were used for evaluation of dental fear and Child Medical Fear Questionnaire (CMFQ) for evaluation of the fear of medical treatment. Achenbach Youth Self Report questionnaire (YSR) was used for evaluation of emotional and behavioral problems. The tests were filled in by children. The aim of the study was to evaluate the level of dental anxiety in adolescents and to assess a cause--consequence relationship between dental anxiety and emotional and behavioral problems in adolescents. The results of CDAS, CFSS-DS and CMFQ tests showed that dental anxiety scores and the total internalizing problems were higher in girls. Girls displayed more physical problems (p < 0.001) and were more prone to anxiety/depression disorders (p < 0.05). Both boys and girls were more aggressive, more prone to delinquent behaviour and had more externalizing problems in comparison with the average values obtained for the Croatian population. Significant correlation coefficients for boys were calculated for age and anxiety/depression, and delinquent behaviour and aggression (p < 0.05). Significant correlations were observed between physical problems and dental anxiety measured by the CFSS-DS test (p < 0.01), and between physical problems and the total internalizing problems (p < 0.05). In girls, the CMFQ scores showed significant correlations between dental anxiety and physical problems (p < 0.05), and anxiety/ depression (p < 0.01) and the total internalizing and externalizing problems (p < 0.05). Significant correlations were calculated for age and the total internalizing and externalizing problems for boys (p < 0.05). According to the results of both CDAS and CMFQ tests, anxiety in girls showed significant correlations with delinquent behaviour (p < 0.01). CDAS scores for girls showed significant correlations with aggression (p < 0.05) and the total externalizing problems (p < 0.01).