Background/Objectives: Valid and reliable measurement of dental anxiety is of importance in both clinical and research settings. The aim of this study was to adapt and evaluate the Swedish child and adolescent version of the index of dental anxiety and fear (IDAF). Methods: A total of 142 dental patients aged 10–15 completed the four-components (IDAF-4C) and stimulus module (IDAF-S). Convergent validity was evaluated by correlating IDAF with CFSS-DS and a single item question on self-reported dental anxiety (SQDA). Reliability was investigated using Cronbach’s alpha, test–retest measurements (n = 16) and interviews. Results: IDAF-4C had a high correlation to CFSS-DS (r = 0.72). IDAF-4C convergent validity to SQDA (r = 0.76) was higher than the correlation between CFSS-DS and SQDA (r = 0.62). Convergent validity between IDAF-S and CFSS-DS was high (r = 0.83). Test–retest for IDAF-4C resulted in a moderate ICC of 0.72 (95% CI 0.37–0.89) and a correlation coefficient of 0.74. The difference in skipped items suggests that IDAF has higher usability than CFSS-DS. Conclusions: IDAF-4C provides a reliable estimate of dental anxiety, while IDAF-S provides clinical insights in individual aspects of dental anxiety similar to CFSS-DS. Further research includes evaluating the specific phobia module of IDAF and include more test–retest participants. The Swedish child and adolescent version of IDAF-4C and IDAF-S show good psychometric properties and usability and may be used as a dental anxiety measurement among children and adolescents.
Rafi et al. (Thu,) studied this question.