THE DENTAL SUBSCALE OF THE CHILDRENS FEAR SURVEY SCHEDULE - A FACTOR-ANALYTIC STUDY IN THE NETHERLANDS

The Dental Subscale of the Children's Fear Survey Schedule (CFSS-DS) i s a well-known instrument for assessing dental fear in children. Previ ous studies have shown that the scale has acceptable reliability and v alidity. Factor analysis using scores of a group of Finnish schoolchil dren resulted in three factors. No other data on the factor structure have been published. In order to report on the factor structure of the Dutch parental version of the CFSS-DS, the present study was undertak en. Factor analysis using scores from a group of Dutch children (n = 1 50) demonstrated a factor pattern fairly similar to the results found in the Finnish study. Three factors were found: 1) fear of highly inva sive dental procedures, 2) fear of less invasive aspects of treatment and 3) fear of medical aspects. Considering that almost all items load substantially (greater than or equal to 0.20) on more than one factor , it seems that one primary underlying dimension exists: fear of invas ive treatment aspects. The CFSS-DS is proposed as a reliable, one-dime nsional measure of dental fear.