title: Identifying Dental Anxiety in Children's Drawings and correlating It with Frankl's Behavior Rating Scale.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To develop a simple method to assess the level of anxiety by using children's drawings and correlating them with Frankl's behavior rating scale.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 178 patients aged of 3 to 14 years were handed out two-page forms which contained three sections on coloring and drawing, along with general information, and Frankl's behavior rating scale for the visit. The three types of drawing exercises given to the patients were geometric copy drawings, coloring a nonthreatening figure, and an empty sheet for freehand drawing.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Out of 178 patients, 60 showed definitely positive behavior, 73 exhibited positive behavior, 37 showed negative behavior, and 8 were definitely negative on Frankl's behavior rating scale; 133 children had none or, 1 stress marker and 45 exhibited 2 or 3 stress markers in their drawings. Chi-square (χ2) analysis was done with a 2 × 2 contingency table. Observed χ2value was 46.166, which at 1 degree of freedom was much greater than that at 0.995 percentile. Therefore, the result was highly significant.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Children requiring specialized behavioral techniques can be identified by the presence of stress markers in their drawings. This nonverbal activity by itself can have an overall positive effect on the behavior displayed in the dental clinic.
  Mathur J, Diwanji A, Sarvaiya B, Sharma D. Identifying Dental Anxiety in Children's Drawings and correlating It with Frankl's Behavior Rating Scale. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2017;10(1):24-28.
authors.affiliation: Professor and Head, Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, Faculty of Dental Science, Dharmsinh Desai University, Nadiad, Gujarat India.
authors.forename: Jyoti
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mathur
authors.affiliation: Senior Lecturer, Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, Faculty of Dental Science, Dharmsinh Desai University, Nadiad, Gujarat India.
authors.forename: Amish
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Diwanji
authors.affiliation: Former Lecturer, Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, Faculty of Dental Science, Dharmsinh Desai University, Nadiad, Gujarat India.
authors.forename: Bhumi
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sarvaiya
authors.affiliation: Tutor, Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, Faculty of Dental Science, Dharmsinh Desai University, Nadiad, Gujarat India.
authors.forename: Dipal
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sharma
keywords: Children’s drawings; Dental treatment anxiety; Stress markers.