TOWARD CONVERGENT VALIDATION OF CHILDRENS DENTAL ANXIETY AND DISRUPTIVENESS RATINGS

An Anxiety Rating scale was given to 130 parents who assessed their ch ildren's anticipatory lear of dentistry. These ratings were related to a Treatment Disruptiveness scale completed by a paedodontist immediat ely after treatment. Internal consistencies (a) of both were >.80. Sco res on the two scales were significantly correlated, and results were replicated with a new sample of 194 children. Scores on both scales we re significantly correlated with suppression of play activity scores a nd with severity of dental work. Younger children were more disruptive during treatment than older ones. Preliminary convergent validation s uggests that with further development, the parents' Anxiety Rating and play suppression might prove useful in predicting children's anxiety.