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The Dental Subscale of the Childrens Fear Survey Schedule: a factor analytic study in the Netherlands
Author(s) -
Berge Maaike,
Hoogstraten Johan,
Veerkamp Jaap S. J.,
Prins Pier J. M.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
community dentistry and oral epidemiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.061
H-Index - 101
eISSN - 1600-0528
pISSN - 0301-5661
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0528.1998.tb01970.x
Subject(s) - dental fear , medicine , reliability (semiconductor) , clinical psychology , scale (ratio) , psychiatry , anxiety , power (physics) , physics , quantum mechanics
– The Dental Subscale of the Childrens Fear Survey Schedule (CFSSDS) is a well‐known instrument for assessing dental fear in children. Previous studies have shown that the scale has acceptable reliability and validity. Factor analysis using scores of a group of Finnish schoolchildren resulted in three factors. No other data on the factor structure have been published. In order to report on the factor structure of the Dutch parental version of the CFSS‐DS, the present study was undertaken. Factor analysis using scores from a group of Dutch children ( n =150) demonstrated a factor pattern fairly similar to the results found in the Finnish study. Three factors were found: 1) fear of highly invasive dental procedures, 2) fear of less invasive aspects of treatment and 3) fear of medical aspects. Considering that almost all items load substantially (≥0.20) on more than one factor, it seems that one primary underlying dimension exists: fear of invasive treatment aspects. The CFSS‐DS is proposed as a reliable, one‐dimensional measure of dental fear.