Aim
The aim of the study was to examine the impact of the instability of self-esteem and affective lability on students’ self-rated oral health and oral health-related behaviors.
Methods and Material
The present study sample consisted of 178 first year medical students. A questionnaire was used to collect information about socio-demographic factors, behavioral factors, self-reported oral health status, the instability of self-esteem, and affective lability.
Results
Significant differences were found on the instability of self-esteem and affective lability on the following variables: gender, smoking, anxiety, depression, stress in everyday life, number of extracted teeth, and satisfaction with appearance of one's own teeth (Ps<0.05). The level of instability of self-esteem had a consistent association with the self-reported oral health status and satisfaction with appearance of teeth. The affective lability total score was a determinant of the number of extracted teeth, last toothache, self-rated gingival status, while anger was correlated with the number of current non-treated caries, extracted teeth, toothbrushing, and flossing frequency.
Conclusions
The results indicate there is an increased risk for impaired dental health among subjects with instable self-esteem symptoms or symptoms of anger.
Citation
Dumitrescu AL, Dogaru CB, Dogaru CD. Instability of Self-esteem and Affective Lability as Determinants of Self-reported Oral Health Status and Oral Health-related Behaviors. J Contemp Dent Pract 2008 January; (9)1:038-045.
The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) is a widely used stress instrument that measures the degree to which life events are perceived as stressful. The goal of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Romanian version of the PSS-10 with a nonclinical sample. The subjects of the study were 528 undergraduate students at
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.