title: Validity of the Brazilian version of the Venham's behavior rating scale.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Venham's Behavior Rating Scale (VBRS) is a measure of uncooperative behavior developed to assess children's responses to dental stress.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the validity of the Brazilian version of the VBRS.
  
  
  METHODS
  Children aged 7-13 years were invited to participate in this study. Child behavior was concurrently assessed with both the VBRS and the Frankl Scale. A receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was plotted to determine the cut-off points of the Brazilian version of the VBRS. Criterion validity was determined using Spearman's correlation coefficient. Discriminant validity was tested before and after scale dichotomization.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 265 children participated in this study. According to the ROC curve, the ≥1 cut-off point was best for this population (SENS 97.4%; SPEC 94.7%). The Brazilian version of the VBRS was significantly correlated with the Frankl Scale (r -0.69; <0.001, r -0.72; <0.001). Child behavior assessed was related to complexity of treatment, type of procedure, use of local anesthesia, and dental fear.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results provide strong evidence for the validity of Brazilian version of the VBRS in behavior assessment of children aged 7-13 years during dental care.
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Dentistry, Graduate Program in Dentistry, Federal University of Pelotas, Pelotas, Brazil.
authors.forename: Mariana Gonzalez
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Cademartori
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Dentistry, Graduate Program in Dentistry, Federal University of Pelotas, Pelotas, Brazil.
authors.forename: Denise Paiva
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Da Rosa
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Dentistry, Graduate Program in Dentistry, Federal University of Pelotas, Pelotas, Brazil.
authors.forename: Luísa Jardim Correa
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.affiliation: Dentistry, Department of Dentistry and Graduate Program in Dentistry, Federal University of Pelotas, Pelotas, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marcos Britto
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Corrêa
authors.affiliation: Department of Social and Preventive Dentistry and Graduate Program in Dentistry, Federal University of Pelotas, Pelotas, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marília Leão
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Goettems
mesh_terms: D000067290:Behavior Rating Scale; D001938:Brazil; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D016854:Dental Anxiety / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D012372:ROC Curve; D015203:Reproducibility of Results