The impact of emotional intelligence and intelligence quotient (IQ) on child anxiety and behavior in the dental setting

Abstract

Objective. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of IQ and EQ on child's anxiety and behavior in the dental setting. Materials and methods. One hundred and seven children (age range 7–12 years) were selected. BarOn Emotional Quotient Inventory: Youth Version (Baron EQ-I: YV) and the Raven's Colored Progressive Matrices (RCPM) tests were administered on the first examination session. Children's anxiety and behavior were evaluated using the modified child dental anxiety scale (MCDAS) and the sound, eye and motor (SEM) scales, respectively, during the second session. Results. The mean (SD) age of subjects was 8.48 (1.41) years old. The result revealed a significant negative correlation between children's behavior and total EQ score (p < 0.01) but there was no relationship found between children's behavior and IQ score. A significant positive correlation was found between anxiety scores on MCDAS and SEM (p < 0.01), but no relationship was found between EQ and MCDAS scores. Both anxiety (p < 0.01) and EQ score (p < 0.01) were effective variables in predicting the child's SEM score. Conclusion. The major finding of this research suggested that a high EQ may be more effective than a low EQ in moderating the level of cooperation during dental treatment of children. IQ scores, on the other hand, were related to the child's EQ score (r = 0.20) and age (r = – 0.29).

Key Words::

• Anxiety
• behavior
• emotional intelligence
• intelligence quotient

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by grants from Tabriz University of Medical Science. We appreciate the help of the staff at the Department of Pediatric Dentistry, and the Department of Psychiatry. We also gratefully acknowledge Dr Roshani for performing the IQ and EQ tests. We are also thankful to the parents and the children participating in the study.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.