親愛(ài)的的《科學(xué)一刻》欄目組,
I hate going to the dentist. In fact, I openly fear it.
我很討厭看牙醫(yī)。真的,我對(duì)此感到很恐懼。
Yet I've never actually had a really bad orpainfulexperience with a dentist.
可是我實(shí)際上并沒(méi)有看牙醫(yī)的糟糕經(jīng)歷。
So why do I fear it so much?
那我為什么會(huì)對(duì)此感到如此恐懼呢?
You're certainly not alone.
有此感受的不僅僅是你一個(gè)人。
Quaking in your boots at the mere thought of a dental check up-letalone having a cavity takencare of-is a time honored tradition.
一想到要檢查牙齒,腿腳就哆嗦,更別說(shuō)補(bǔ)牙洞了。這種感受由來(lái)已久。
And it doesn't necessarily derive from a bad dental experience.
對(duì)牙醫(yī)的害怕不一定來(lái)自您糟糕的看病經(jīng)歷。New research shows that fear ofthedentist is often passed down from parents to their children.
如今有研究表明,對(duì)牙醫(yī)的恐懼感常常可以通過(guò)父母?jìng)鬟f給子女。
Fathers are especially involved.
父親們的因素很關(guān)鍵。
Previous studies found a link between parents'attitudes toward thedentist and kids' fear.
過(guò)去的研究表明,父母對(duì)牙醫(yī)的態(tài)度和子女對(duì)看牙醫(yī)的恐懼感有關(guān)聯(lián)。
But the new study reveals that kids pay even closer attention to how theirfathers react whenthe dentist is involved.
不過(guò)現(xiàn)在有研究發(fā)現(xiàn)子女們會(huì)密切關(guān)注父親看牙醫(yī)的反應(yīng)。
Apparently, when fathers display fear and anxiety, kidsare most likely to pick up those cuesand see dental visits as something to fear.
明顯的例子是,當(dāng)父親表現(xiàn)出恐懼和焦慮的時(shí)候,子女很可能受到這些心理暗示,把看牙醫(yī)當(dāng)作恐怖的事情對(duì)待。
Why fathers carry so much weight in influencing how their kids think about the dentist is notclear.
父親們?yōu)楹螘?huì)如此大程度地影響子女對(duì)牙醫(yī)的看法,原因尚不可知。
At least the study doesn't really offer an explanation.
至少這項(xiàng)研究沒(méi)有給出合理解釋。
But it does suggest that fathers can play animportant role in what psychologists called positiveemotional contagion.
不過(guò)研究指出,父親在被心理學(xué)家稱(chēng)為積極情緒傳導(dǎo)的過(guò)程中舉足輕重。
If fathers' fear of the dentist can contaminate their kids, the opposite might also be true.
如果父親們對(duì)牙醫(yī)的恐懼會(huì)傳染給他們的子女,那么反之亦然。
In otherwords, dads behaving positively and not displaying fear could orient their kids towardsnot fearingthe dentist.
換句話(huà)說(shuō),父親們正面的言行,不帶恐懼的表現(xiàn)可以引導(dǎo)他們的子女不再害怕牙醫(yī)。
So the researchers call for parents, and fathers in particular, to beinvolved in dentistfearprevention campaigns.
因此研究人員呼吁父母?jìng)?,尤其是父親們,行動(dòng)起來(lái),幫助子女防治牙醫(yī)恐懼癥。