S Supriya, Ahsan Amra, Singh Rajbir
Department of psychology, SGT University, Gurugram, Haryana, India.
Bioinformation. 2025 Feb 28;21(2):231-239. doi: 10.6026/973206300210231. eCollection 2025.
The impact of dental fear on the perceived importance of oral health is of interest to dentists. Hence, 100 participants with clinical diagnoses of dental caries and periodontal/gingival diseases were assessed. The dental fear survey comprised 20 items in the questionnaire addressing the different situations, associated feelings and reactions related to dental treatment. Perceived importance of oral health was recorded through 3 items of oral health belief questionnaire. Character strengths of courage were recorded through the Values in Action Inventory of Strength (VIA-IS) Questionnaire (40 items; 10 items belonging to each of the four character strengths of courage). Later, a mediation analysis was conducted to evaluate the direct effect of dental fear and its domains, as well as the mediating effect of courage and its domains (perseverance, honesty, zest, bravery) on perceived importance. The 'physiological arousal' and 'avoidance of dentistry' factors associated with dental fear negatively impact the perceived importance of oral health. Thus, virtue of courage has the potential to improve the perceived importance of oral health.
牙科恐惧对口腔健康重要性认知的影响是牙医们感兴趣的。因此，对100名临床诊断为龋齿和牙周/牙龈疾病的参与者进行了评估。牙科恐惧调查在问卷中包含20个项目，涉及与牙科治疗相关的不同情况、相关感受和反应。通过口腔健康信念问卷的3个项目记录对口腔健康重要性的认知。通过《行动价值观力量量表》（VIA-IS问卷，40个项目；勇气的四种性格优势各有10个项目）记录勇气的性格优势。随后，进行了中介分析，以评估牙科恐惧及其领域的直接效应，以及勇气及其领域（毅力、诚实、热情、勇敢）对重要性认知的中介效应。与牙科恐惧相关的“生理唤醒”和“避免看牙”因素对口腔健康重要性的认知有负面影响。因此，勇气的美德有可能提高对口腔健康重要性的认知。
