title: Dental fear and sense of coherence among 18-yr-old adolescents in Finland.
abstract: The aim was to investigate whether dental fear was associated with the sense of coherence (SOC) among 18-yr-old adolescents (n = 777). Cross-sectional data from a prospective cohort of a random sample of families from Finland and their first-born children were used. Dental fear was measured using the Modified Dental Anxiety Scale and categorized as high dental fear for scores of 19-25 and as no to moderate dental fear for scores of 5-18. Sense of coherence was measured using a 13-item version of Antonovsky's Sense of Coherence Questionnaire, dichotomized as scores 13-63 for weak SOC and as scores of 64-91 for strong SOC. Gender and education were included as background factors in the logistic regression analyses. The prevalence of high dental fear was 8%. Those reporting high dental fear reported more often a weaker SOC than did those with no to moderate dental fear (69% vs. 31%, OR = 2.5, 95% CI = 1.4-4.4), also when adjusted for gender and education (OR = 2.2, 95% CI = 1.2-3.9). According to the theory of salutogenesis, as proposed by Antonovsky, SOC is a resource instrument especially in situations of tension or strain and hence a strong SOC might protect against high dental fear.
authors: Department of Public Health, University of Turku, Turku, Finland. sirjaa@utu.fi
authors: Sirkka
authors: S
authors: Jaakkola
authors: Päivi
authors: P
authors: Rautava
authors: Maiju
authors: M
authors: Saarinen
authors: Satu
authors: S
authors: Lahti
authors: Marja-Leena
authors: ML
authors: Mattila
authors: Sakari
authors: S
authors: Suominen
authors: Hannele
authors: H
authors: Räihä
authors: Minna
authors: M
authors: Aromaa
authors: Päivi-Leena
authors: PL
authors: Honkinen
authors: Matti
authors: M
authors: Sillanpää
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D016854:Dental Anxiety / Q000523:psychology*; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008347:Manifest Anxiety Scale; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D060685:Sense of Coherence; D012737:Sex Factors