Anxiety, Depression, and Anger in Bruxism: A Cross-sectional Study among Adult Attendees of a Preventive Center.

The relationship between emotional symptom and bruxism is not well-established. We aimed to investigate sleeping bruxism and psychological factors. A cross-sectional study was performed in working-age adults attended in general outpatient service. The main outcome was the sleep bruxism diagnosed by dentist. Sociodemographic, clinical and psychological characteristics were evaluated according to sleep bruxism (yes/no). Scores of self-report scales of psychological symptoms (Beck Anxiety Inventory, Patient Health Questionnaire, and Dimensions of Anger Reactions) were individually subjected to factor analysis, through the extraction method of principal axis factoring. The associations between probable cases of sleep bruxism with dimensions of anxiety (somatic and cognitive), depression, and anger were estimated by linear regression models. Linear regression models (with beta coefficients and 95% CI) were adjusted for sociodemographic covariates. Among 351 respondents, 37.3% presented sleep bruxism. Of them, high frequencies of symptoms of anger (68.1%), moderate-severe anxiety (23.6%), and depression (17.9%) were observed. After adjustment, somatic-anxiety (beta: 0,136; CI95%: 0,028 to 0.276) was associated with sleep bruxism, but not cognitive-anxiety, depression or anger. The presence of sleeping bruxism should be routinely explored among adults, regarding its relationship with emotional symptoms.