REPEATED MEASUREMENTS OF MOOD DURING PSYCHOLOGIC TREATMENT OF DENTAL FEAR

The aims of the present study were to analyze mood changes during psyc hologic treatment of dental fear by assessing the rate of improvement. Twenty-one patients who refused conventional dental treatment and rep orted extreme dental anxiety participated in the study. Levels of dent al anxiety and mood were measured with the Dental Anxiety Scale (DAS) and a Mood Adjective Checklist (MACL). MACL included two dimensions, d egree of relaxation (r) and pleasantness (h) as experienced in a denta l situation. Mood was monitored al each treatment session from base li ne to termination of the therapy (eight measurements). Two different t reatment modalities were used, one with a more cognitive approach (n = 9) and one emphasizing tile relaxation component (n = 12). A hierarch ical linear models approach was applied to analyze individual change w ith repeated measurements. The results showed that positive mood chang es over time were statistically significant. The mean improvement in m ood scores per week and session was estimated for MACL(r) and MACL(h) to be 0.14/week and 0.09/week, respectively. The growth was not affect ed by DAS levels or treatment mode. This study also illustrated a powe rful method for analyzing a longitudinal clinical trial design with re peated measurements.