Short‐Forms of the Brazilian Children's Experiences of Dental Anxiety Measure (CEDAM): Development and Initial Evaluation

TL;DR

Researchers developed and evaluated shorter versions of a dental anxiety measure for Brazilian children to make it more efficient and cost-effective.

Contribution

The study introduces short-form versions of the Brazilian CEDAM with validated psychometric properties.

Findings

Both methods identified 4 common questions for the short-forms.

Short-form scores correlated positively with existing dental anxiety measures.

Short-forms showed high reliability with Cronbach's α > 0.80.

Abstract

Dental anxiety can be measured by self‐report instruments. The Children's Experiences of Dental Anxiety Measure (CEDAM) is a 14‐item measure of dental anxiety. A short form would be useful to reduce application time and financial costs of data collection.

To develop the short‐forms of the Brazilian CEDAM to facilitate its use and to evaluate their psychometric properties using item impact and regression methods.

The sample consisted of 80 9–12‐year‐old schoolchildren. The item impact method selected the eight items with the highest impact score and multiplied the frequency of individuals by the mean score of the item. The regression method considered the total score as the dependent variable and the individual item scores as independent variables. Content, Criterion, Construct Validity, and Reliability were tested.

The methods identified 4 common questions. Short‐forms showed a floor effect, and the impact method had a ceiling effect (Content Validity). Short‐form scores positively correlated with the CEDAM (Criterion Validity) and the Children's Fear Survey Schedule‐Dental Subscale (CFSS‐DS) scores (Correlational Construct Validity). High fearful children (CFSS‐DS ≥ 32) had higher short‐form scores than their counterparts (Discriminant Construct Validity). Short‐forms showed to be reliable (Cronbach's α > 0.80).

Short‐forms of the Brazilian CEDAM demonstrated satisfactory validity and reliability.