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Updated: Jan 10, 2026

Hyponeophagia: A Measure of Anxiety in the Mouse
Published on: May 17, 2011
Association between oral behaviors and generalized anxiety in a sample of university students: A cross-sectional
Bachar Reda1, Frank Lobbezoo2,3, Luca Contardo1
1Department of Medical, Surgical and Health Sciences, School of Dentistry, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy.
Objective:
This study aimed to describe the frequency of oral behaviors and generalized anxiety among university students and assess their association using the Oral Behavior Checklist-21 (OBC-21) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7).
Methods:
An online questionnaire was sent to students at the University of Trieste, Italy. Mann-Whitney U compared OBC-21 scores by sex; Spearman Correlation and linear regression (adjusted for age and sex) assessed the association between OBC-21 and GAD-7 scores. Fisher's exact test examined categorical relationships.
Results:
A total of 1,687 students completed the questionnaire (response rate 9.5%; 73% females). Mean OBC-21 and GAD-7 scores were 23.9 ± 8.3 and 9.5 ± 5.2, respectively. Higher OBC-21 scores were associated with younger age (p = 0.004) and females sex (p < 0.001). Oral behaviors and anxiety were moderately correlated (r = 0.42, p < 0.001), confirmed by regression. Categorized scores also showed a significant association (p < 0.001, Cramér's V = 0.308).
Conclusion:
Oral behaviors are significantly associated with generalized anxiety in university students, underscoring the importance of integrating mental health assessment into oral health care.
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