A study on the convergent and discriminant validity of the Dental Anxiety Inventory.

A correlational design was used to assess the convergent and discriminant validity of the Dental Anxiety Inventory (DAI), a newly developed measurement instrument designed to circumvent shortcomings of other dental anxiety questionnaires. Convergent validity was supported by a high correlation between the DAI and Corah's Dental Anxiety Scale. Discriminant validity was supported by small positive correlations with scales for neuroticism, anxiety, and fear, and nonsignificant correlations with other variables such as extroversion. The results support the construct validity of the DAI.