Influence of Age and Gender on Emotional Intelligence, Intelligence Quotient, Anxiety, and Behavior of Children in a...

Children's age is a significant predictor factor for their panic and conduct intraoperatively. A child's developmental stage influences their ability to handle stress in dental operations, and it seems that younger children are more anxious and have a better capacity to cope with dental procedures. Age and gender are said to have a significant influence on emotional quotient (EQ) and intelligence quotient (IQ), but the data regarding this is extremely sparse in the dental literature.

To find the impact of age and gender on EQ, IQ, panic, and conduct of children in an oral care setup.

A total of 57 female and 50 male (total 107) children were considered participants aged 7-12 years. The study was executed in two sessions in the pediatric dentistry department. In the first session, "Bar-On emotional quotient inventory: youth version (Bar-On EQ-i: YV)" and the "Raven's colored progressive matrices (RCPM)" tests were administered to evaluate the EQ and IQ of the children, and a clinical psychologist supervised and guided the whole procedure. In the second appointment, anxiety was recorded using the "faces version of the modified child's dental anxiety scale (MCDAS_(f))," whereas behavior was recorded with the "sound, eye, and motor (SEM) scale." Interpretation of data was done by statistical methods.

The difference in IQ scores between the groups aged 7-9 and 10-12 years was not statistically significant. There was a statistically notable difference (p-value of 0.006) in the RCPM IQ scores among male and female participants, where female participants scored better. There was a statistically insignificant variation in total EQ scores between male and female participants. Based on age and gender, a statistically insignificant variation was noted in the anxiety scores (MCDAS_(f)) among participants. A statistically notable difference (p-value of 0.018) was seen between the SEM scores of the 7-9 and 10-12 years age-groups. SEM scores of male and female participants showed no significant difference.

There was no influence of age on the IQ and EQ scores of the participants. A gender difference was found in relation to the IQ scores and the intrapersonal and stress management subscales of EQ. Based on age and gender, there was a statistically nonsignificant difference between the anxiety scores (MCDAS_(f)) of the participants. A statistically notable variation was seen between the SEM scores for behavior of the 7-9 and 10-12 years age-groups. Statistically insignificant variation was noted between the SEM scores of both genders.

Agarwalla S, Chandra B, Kundu GK. Influence of Age and Gender on Emotional Intelligence, Intelligence Quotient, Anxiety, and Behavior of Children in a Dental Setup. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2024;17(5):518-523.