Adaptive coping strategies among adults with dental fear. Further development of a new version of the Dental Coping Strategy Questionnaire

Abstract

Objective. The aim of this study was to further develop and investigate a newly constructed 15-item questionnaire on strategies for coping with dental treatment, used by fearful adult patients undergoing regular dental care and those with phobic avoidance. Materials and Methods. The dental coping strategy questionnaire (DCSQ-15) was distributed to 77 individuals with dental phobic avoidance and 94 fearful patients undergoing regular dental care. Previous analyses of a 20-item coping questionnaire (DCSQ-20) revealed that 2 of 4 identified factors predicted regularity or phobic avoidance of dental care. However, one of these factors was considered related to catastrophizing thoughts and not to coping strategies and it was therefore removed in the present study. Results. The reduced 15-item questionnaire was analyzed to identify its factor structure and a 5-factor solution was found. The five factors were labeled (i) ‘self-efficacy’, (ii) ‘self-distraction’, (iii) ‘distancing’, (iv) ‘praying’ and (v) ‘optimism’. The factors of ‘praying’ and ‘optimism’ correlated significantly with dental anxiety and were assessed significantly higher and lower respectively, among individuals with phobic avoidance. A logistic regression analysis revealed that ‘optimism’, together with gender and dental anxiety, was predictive of the regularity or phobic avoidance of dental care.

Key Words::

• adaptive behaviour
• coping skills
• dental anxiety
• factor analysis
• questionnaire

Acknowledgments

Our deepest gratitude goes to Professor Ulf Berggren, deceased May 2009, who made a major contribution to the study. Special thanks go to the participating public dental service clinics in Olskroken, Hisings Kärra and Björkekärr and to the Clinic of Oral Medicine. This study was supported by the Research and Development Council of the counties of Göteborg and Södra Bohuslän.

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