The Relationship between Depression and Dental Perception and Behavior in Adolescents
1998 Volume 36 Issue 1 Pages 59-64
Details
1998 Volume 36 Issue 1 Pages 59-64
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between depression and dental perception and behavior, particularly trust toward dental staff in the course of dental procedures, among adolescents. A total of 490 adolescents (225 males,265 females) fifteen to eighteen years old attending a private tutoring school in Hiroshima were surveyed.
The questionnaire consisted of Zung's self-rating depression scale (SDS), the Dental Belief Survey -Japanese Edition-Revised (DBS-JR) and several questions about dental experience, dental trust, oral condition, dental anxiety, and dental fear. SDS is a measure of depression that has often been used to study mental health. The DBS-JR measures the degree to which patients perceive the behavior of dentists and dental staff as causing or contributing to fear of dental treatment.
The results were as follows:
1. The average SDS score of boys was 43.4, the average SDS score of girls was 44.3, and the average SDS score of all adolescents was 43.9. The items of “Dissatisfaction”, “Emptiness” and “Depressed affect” described the depression of adolescents well.
2. The depression scale was related to dental trust, oral condition, dental anxiety, and dental fear, but did not relate to dental experience.
3. The SDS score had a significant correlation with the DBS-JR score. The items for “Irritability”, “Psychomotor agitation” and “Suicidal rumination” had a particularly high correlation.
4. Among the 6 dimensions of DBS-JR, “communication” and “environment and reception by dental staff” had a particularly high correlation with the SDS score.
