Prevalence of anxiety and depression in Australian adolescents: comparisons with worldwide data.

Data from two Australian studies were combined so that the prevalence of anxiety and depression in a large, normative sample of Australian adolescents could be investigated. The combined sample comprised 1,299 adolescents randomly selected from metropolitan and country schools in Melbourne, a large Australian city. The data were examined in order to ascertain the percentages of adolescents who scored above the clinical cut-off on two self-report instruments--the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale (C. R. Reynolds & B. O. Richmond, 1985) and the Reynolds Adolescent Depression Scale (W. M. Reynolds, 1986). The results of these analyses were then compared with previously reported prevalence rates from studies worldwide. This comparison revealed striking differences in the prevalence of anxiety and depression across different countries and cultures. Limitations attributable to different self-report measures and imposed-etic approaches are discussed. Issues pertaining to social and political climate are also raised.

Dieting and body image in the child's world: conceptualization and behavior.

The authors examined children's (N = 431, aged 7 years to 10 years 9 months) understanding of and reasons for dieting, to validate recent research indicating that perceived body-image dissatisfaction and restrictive eating behaviors occur in pre-adolescent populations. Scores on 2 sentence-completion tasks confirmed that the children do have a clear understanding of what dieting means in terms of intent and behavior (defined, in this study, as intentional restrictive eating behaviors). The results indicated that children as young as 7 years of age report dissatisfaction with their current body size and deliberately engage in restrictive eating behaviors. These findings provide validation of previous research and emphasize children's capacity to engage in deleterious health behaviors. Given that extreme dieting behaviors are harmful to a child's physical and psychological well-being, the authors concluded that research exploring (a) the genesis of these attitudes and behaviors and (b) their continuity or discontinuity across childhood is required.

Adolescent body image dissatisfaction: relationships with self-esteem, anxiety, and depression controlling for body mass.

The current study examined the relationships of anxiety, depression, and self-esteem with Perceived Body Image Dissatisfaction (PBID) in a nonclinical population of 516 adolescents, aged 12 to 18. The prevalence of PBID was comparative with previous findings. Interestingly, actual body mass and psychological well-being variables were found to be significantly related with PBID, whilst being independent of each other. Findings support proposals that PBID arises from a complex interplay of factors, including gender, self-esteem, and actual body mass. In particular, our findings highlight the need for future research of a prospective nature incorporating psychological, sociocultural, and maturational factors.

An examination of adolescent risk-taking using a story completion task.

The aim of the study was to assess whether risk-taking as described in complete the story tasks written by adolescents could be predicted by the perceived consequences of the behaviours portrayed in the stories. The study involved analysis of story themes in terms of portrayal of participation in risky behaviour and the nature of story outcomes. Links between story elements were assessed and comparisons made of these projectively-based findings with previous self-report research. Participants were 570 adolescents aged 12 to 17 from secondary schools in Melbourne, Australia. Responses to four complete the story stimuli were coded according to whether story protagonists participated in the hypothetical risk posed, and in terms of the behavioural outcomes presented. Adolescents were more likely to write stores accepting negative than positive risks, and to expect short-term rather than long-term consequences. Perceived short-term consequences of risk-taking behaviour were predictive of risk participation, however long-term consequences were not. The study provided data about adolescent risk-taking which mirrored and extended the findings of self-report studies.

[Determination of abrasive properties of toothpastes by means of copper abrasion]. / Okreslanie wlasciwosci sciernych past do zebów metoda scierania miedzi.

The results are presented of the investigations of the proposed method for determination of the abrasive properties of toothpastes and raw materials used for their production. The method is based on brushing of copper surface with the studied paste in a device of own design, followed by chemical analysis of copper content in the mass after brushing. The optimal parameters of the work of the abrasive device were determined and the method for determination of copper content is described. For chemical analysis absorption spectroscopy in visible light and atomic absorption spectroscopy were used. The advantages of the proposed method of abrasive force determination was discussed comparing them to those of radioisotope assay.

[Two-stage method of enamel remineralization]. / Dwustopniowy sposób remineralizacji szkliwa zebów.

Two toothpastes were compared in vitro for assessing the effectiveness of a two-stage process of enamel remineralization after damage inflicted by means of acid. One paste contained added free anions essential for the remineralization process, the other paste contained analogous free cations. The remineralization process was based on sorption of free PO4(3-) or Ca2+ ions at the site of damaged enamel and development of calcium phosphate in situ. The study was carried out using phosphorus and calcium radioisotopes, electron microscope and X-ray microanalyzer.

[Studies on the remineralization of enamel using radioisotopes]. / Badania procesu remineralizacji szkliwa zebów z uzycium radioizotopów.

Enamel of human and bovine teeth was found to show sorption of free calcium ions after damage caused by short-term exposure to diluted hydrochloric acid or mechanical damage. The experiment was carried out using radioisotopes 32P and 45Ca and it was shown that majority of incorporated ions remained in the enamel after prolonged washing out with water as well as after brushing with toothpaste. A considerable stability of binding of the incorporated phosphate ions was noted in the damaged enamel after exposure to calcium salt solution, and marked stability of binding of the incorporated calcium ions after exposure to phosphate solution.