Dental Fear Survey: A Cross-Sectional Study Evaluating the Psychometric Properties of the Brazilian Portuguese Version

Table 4

Discriminant validity of the Brazilian version of the Dental Fear Survey (DFS) total scale and factors according to negative dental experiences in childhood ().

	Negative dental experiences in childhood		value*	Difference	Effect size
	No (); Mean (SD)	Yes (); Mean (SD)
DFS total	32.62 (11.39)	42.04 (15.56)	<0.001	9.426	0.70
Avoidance	10.45 (3.72)	13.56 (5.96)	<0.001	3.104	0.64
Physiological arousal	7.58 (2.79)	9.36 (3.98)	<0.001	1.776	0.52
Fears of specific stimuli/situations	14.58 (6.33)	19.13 (7.50)	<0.001	4.545	0.66

SD = standard deviation.
Mann-Whitney test.