title: Dental fear and previous childhood traumatic experiences, life events, and parental bonding.
abstract: We aimed to determine whether adult dental fear is associated with traumas, life events, and perceived parental bonding. Pilot data for the FinnBrain Cohort study were used. Of the 254 families expecting a baby, 80% agreed to participate. At 32-34 wk of pregnancy, 125 women and 81 men completed a Modified Dental Anxiety Scale questionnaire and were included in this study. Other instruments used were the Trauma and Distress Scale (TADS), the Life Event Checklist, and the Parental Bonding Index. All scales were analyzed as summated rating scale scores. Associations between dental fear, TADS domains, and life events were evaluated using Spearman correlation coefficients. The association between dental fear and parental bonding was evaluated using the Kruskal-Wallis test. Among women, dental fear did not correlate with trauma measures, but among men dental fear correlated with emotional neglect and abuse. Dental fear correlated positively with the number of life events among women. Life events and dental fear did not correlate among men. Dental fear was not associated with parental bonding among women or men. The association between traumas, life events, and dental fear seems to be different in women and men.
authors: FinnBrain Study Group, Department of Psychiatry, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland; Department of Community Dentistry, Institute of Dentistry, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.
authors: Outi
authors: O
authors: Hagqvist
authors: Mimmi
authors: M
authors: Tolvanen
authors: Kari
authors: K
authors: Rantavuori
authors: Linnea
authors: L
authors: Karlsson
authors: Hasse
authors: H
authors: Karlsson
authors: Satu
authors: S
authors: Lahti
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual / Q000523:psychology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D016854:Dental Anxiety / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009769:Object Attachment; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology; D011247:Pregnancy; D012737:Sex Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: dental fear; life event; parental bonding; trauma