A new inventory for examining the first six of Erikson's psychosocial stages is described. The self-report questionnaire, developed in a pilot study of 97 adolescents and tested in a study of 622 adolescents, has 12 items for each subscale. Measures of reliability and validity are reported. It is concluded that the Erikson Psychosocial Stage Inventory (EPSI) is a useful measure for researchers interested in development from early adolescence and in mapping changes as a function of life events.

To identify approaches to target DNA repair vulnerabilities in cancer, we discovered nanomolar potent, selective, low molecular weight (MW), allosteric inhibitors of the polymerase function of DNA polymerase Polθ, including ART558. ART558 inhibits the major Polθ-mediated DNA repair process, Theta-Mediated End Joining, without targeting Non-Homologous End Joining. In addition, ART558 elicits DNA damage and synthetic lethality in BRCA1- or BRCA2-mutant tumour cells and enhances the effects of a PARP inhibitor. Genetic perturbation screening revealed that defects in the 53BP1/Shieldin complex, which cause PARP inhibitor resistance, result in in vitro and in vivo sensitivity to small molecule Polθ polymerase inhibitors. Mechanistically, ART558 increases biomarkers of single-stranded DNA and synthetic lethality in 53BP1-defective cells whilst the inhibition of DNA nucleases that promote end-resection reversed these effects, implicating these in the synthetic lethal mechanism-of-action. Taken together, these observations describe a drug class that elicits BRCA-gene synthetic lethality and PARP inhibitor synergy, as well as targeting a biomarker-defined mechanism of PARPi-resistance.

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This study investigates the sexual self-efficacy and sexual self-esteem of males and females and the relation between sexual risk-taking and these self-perceptions. Sexually active 18-yearolds were administered measures of sexual self-efficacy and sexual self-esteem and were asked about their sexual behaviour. Males had higher levels of self-esteem and were more confident than females of their ability to assert their sexual needs, but less confident that they could say no to sexual demands. For a substantial minority there were some difficulties in dealing with condoms. Competence in the sexual domain accounted for a significant but small amount of variance in sexual risk-taking. The predictors of sexual risk-taking were the same for both sexes but differed according to type of partner. Confidence in the ability to say no was the sole predictor of safer sexual behaviour with a casual sex partner. In addition to this factor, lower levels of risk with a regular partner were predicted by these respondents' lower confidence in the ability to assert their sexual needs, together with lower levels of their own sexual self-worth. There is need for adolescents to achieve a sense of mastery and self-worth in the sexual domain, as well as an understanding of the nature of 'regular' relationships.

The purpose of this study was to examine the structure of negative mood states among young adolescents. Students aged 11–15 years from a secondary school in Melbourne, Australia, completed the Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scales (DASS) [Lovibond, S. H., & Lovibond, P. F. (1996). Depression anxiety stress scales. Sydney: The Psychology Foundation of Australia Inc.]. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) failed to find support for a three‐factor model. Further analyses suggested that items from the DASS were best represented by two factors, namely a generalized negativity factor and a factor comprising items indicating physiological arousal.

The aim of this study was to assess the association between beliefs about two types of control, (a) illusion of control, and (b) internal locus of control, and gambling frequency/problem gambling among young people aged 14 to 25 years (435 males; 577 females, 5 unreported gender). A revised version of the SouthOaks Gambling Screen plus measures of gambling frequency and gambling beliefs were administered. Results indicated that irrational control beliefs were strongly associated with problem gambling. Young problem gamblers were more likely to believe that they needed money and that gambling would provide it. In addition, young problem gamblers had more faith in their ability to manipulate chance, and 'beat the system'. Regression models with illusion of control and internal control over gambling significantly predicted gambling frequency and problem gambling. 4There is more than one sense in which people believe they have control over their gambling. First there is the adaptive sense of having control over whether and when to gamble and how much to spend (Corless & Dickerson,1989). Another sense in which the word 'control' is used is the sense of 'illusion of control', that is, the invocation of superstitious behaviour as a (flawed) way of attempting to influence winning or losing at gambling (Langer, 1975;Langer & Roth, 1975).Yet a third sense in which control is used in relation to gambling is in clinical accounts of problem and pathological gamblers, who may report that one of the (irrational) reasons they gamble is as a means of getting their life or finances back under control (eg., Brown & Coventry, 1997). Each of these three types of control will be discussed in turn.The psychological construct of 'locus of control ' (eg., Rotter, 1966) gambling to a budget. The other possibility is belief in control over uncontrollable situations, that is, illusion of control, which can be described as "an expectancy of personal success inappropriately higher than the objective probability would warrant" (Langer, 1975, p 316). Among those holding such illusions, the rationality of the decision-making process required during gambling is compromised by cognitive distortions. Examples of behaviours among gamblers which suggest that these distortions may be occurring are talking to the machines, blowing on dice, keeping fingers crossed, being encouraged by 'near wins' on lotteries, and having favourite machines or tables (Coulombe, Ladouceur, Desharnais, & Jobin, 1992;Dumont & Ladouceur, 1990;Griffiths, 1990Griffiths, , 1993Reid, 1986). Frank and Smith argue that illusion of control results in persistence (in the face of inevitable failure), and superstitious behaviours such as those noted above. It is predicted that belief in control over winning (as opposed to playing) in gambling will be associated with problem gambling status.It could be argued that another form of perceived control -adopting a 'system' for winning --also fits this category of superstitious belief, given the 6 persistent unreliability of most ...

The study aim was to investigate Australian Year 12 students' sense of connectedness to their schools, families, and peers, and examine associations between connectedness and emotional wellbeing. Year 12 students (492 male, 449 female) from 10 secondary schools in Victoria, Australia participated in Phase 1 of the study. Of these, 204 participants (82 male, 122 female) returned surveys 1 year later; 175 of these were attending tertiary education institutions. The study found high levels of depression, anxiety and stress among Year 12 students, with higher negative affect associated with lower levels of family, peer and school connectedness. Negative affect 1 year after leaving school was predicted by negative affect and peer connectedness at Year 12. Results suggest there are significant numbers of at-risk young people in their final year of school, who feel lonely and disconnected from peers, and who maintain concerning levels of depression, anxiety and stress in first year of university.

This study was a randomised control trial with a waiting control group. It was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of a 6-month, group-based diabetes prevention programme, The Healthy Living Course and assess whether participation in the programme led to changes in modifiable risk factors for type 2 diabetes among an already at-risk pre-diabetic population. Individuals designated at risk for diabetes by their general practitioners (GPs) were screened using an Oral Glucose Tolerance Test. Volunteers (N = 307) with pre-diabetes were assigned to an intervention or wait-control group in the ratio of approximately 2 : 1. The sample was pre-tested on biochemical, anthropometric and self-report behavioural, cognitive and mood variables and post-tested either at the end of the educational/support-based lifestyle programme or the end of the wait period. The intervention group significantly improved their diabetes knowledge, motivation to change, positive affect, healthy eating and activity levels and showed significantly greater reductions in weight, body mass index, waist circumference, diastolic blood pressure and fasting plasma glucose in comparison with controls. The intervention group also changed their diagnostic status from pre-diabetes to non-diabetes at a greater rate than the wait group (43% vs. 26%) who received standard care from their GPs.