prediction of dental anxiety in children aged 7 to 12 based on parents' status

The dental office is often an environment for the child with anxiety, which sometimes makes it difficult to perform any treatment due to his defensive reactions. So this study aimed to predict dental anxiety in children aged 7 to 12 years through anxiety, depression, and socioeconomic status of parents. A sample of 95 individuals was selected by convenience sampling method and evaluated by the Socio-Economic Status Questionnaire (SES) (Ghodratnama, 2013), Modified Child Dental Anxiety Scale (MCDAS) (Wong, Humphris and Lee, 1988), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) (Zigmond & Snaith, 1983). The information obtained from the samples was analyzed by SPSS 22 software. Pearson correlation and regression analysis were also used.

The results showed anxiety in parents is significantly and positively correlated with depression (p<0.01, r=.651) and dental anxiety in children (p<0.01, r=.330), also significantly and negatively correlated with Socio-Economic Status (p<0.01, r=-.300). Depression in parents is significantly and positively correlated with dental anxiety (p<0.01, r=.405) negatively with Socio-Economic Status (p<0.01, r=-.324). Depression was a significant predictor of dental anxiety (β=0.319, p<0.05). Anxiety, depression, and socioeconomic status of parents are related to dental anxiety in children. Increased parental anxiety and depression can be reduced by reducing dental visits and increasing trauma during referrals, and this anxiety is transmitted to the child during dental procedures, thereby increasing their anxiety. Higher socioeconomic status may reduce children's dental anxiety due to more parental awareness of dental procedures and earlier visits.