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• The efficacy of different regimens of naproxen sodium for relief of dysmenorrhea in female adolescents was compared and the effect of other social/psychologic factors on the response to treatment tested. Following pretesting, 45 female adolescents were randomly assigned in a double-blind fashion to one of five treatment regimens and were followed up after 1, 2, and 3 months of treatment. There was a dose-related response to naproxen sodium therapy, with subjects receiving loading doses of 550 mg reporting better symptom relief than subjects receiving loading doses of 275 mg. During the first month of treatment, adolescents who reported increased life crisis events experienced greater symptom severity following naproxen therapy. Also, adolescents who reported more severe dysmenorrhea symptoms following three months of naproxen therapy had significantly lower self-concepts than adolescents who reported less symptoms following treatment.(AJDC 1985;139:489-493)

• The purpose of this study was to test the reliability of using the tablet marker, riboflavin, as an indicator of adolescent compliance with oral contraceptives, as compared with self-reports and more costly quantitative determinations of serum norethindrone levels. In a pilot study, a total of 31 urine samples were obtained from 11 subjects, aged 14 to 18 years. A follow-up study was conducted on 26 girls, aged 14 to 19 years, who were randomly selected from an ongoing study of oral contraceptive compliance. Subjects were given an oral contraceptive (Ortho-Novum 1/35), combined with 28 mg of riboflavin. In both studies, urinary fluorescence tests for riboflavin and self-reports were found to be significantly associated. In the follow-up study, both self-reports and urinary fluorescence tests were significantly associated with serum norethindrone levels. When the urinary fluorescence test agreed with self-report, compliance or noncompliance was confirmed by serum norethindrone levels in 90% of the cases. The findings suggest that riboflavin, combined with self-report, can be used as an accurate and cost-effective indicator of adolescent compliance with oral contraceptives.(AJDC 1984;138:70-73)