Table 4.

Relationships Between Ladder Score and Other Variables Assessing Convergent and Divergent Validities and Criterion Validity

Sample	1	2	3	4
Convergent Construct Validity:
I consider my dental health to be important (DNS)	Rho = 0.51**
I plan to go to the dentist		t = 2.236*	Rho = 0.32*** t = 5.082***
Beliefs about dentist (R-DBS)				Negative1
Divergent Construct Validity:
Age	NS	NS	NS	NS
Gender	NS	NS	NS	NS
Number of Carious Teeth	NS	NS	NS	NA2
Severity of Caries	NS	NS	NS	NA2
Dental Fear (MDAS Continuous)		NS
Dental Fear (MDAS High vs. Low)		NS
Dental Fear (DAS Continuous)			NS
Dental Fear (DAS High vs. Low)			Trend
Criterion Validity:
Decides to go to dentist				Positive3

* p < 0.05

** p < 0.01

*** p < 0.001

NS = Not statistically significant

NA = Not applicable

¹ Those who decided to see a dentist had higher (more negative) R-DBS scores, but the difference was not tested due to the low sample size.

² Severe caries was the criterion for inclusion in this sample.

³ Those who decided to see a dentist had higher Ladder scores, but the difference was not tested due to the low sample size.