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Acne

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Encyclopedia of Adolescence

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Acne vulgaris is a common, skin condition characterized by an inflammation of hair follicles by Cutibacterium acnes, formerly known as Propionibacterium acnes (Dréno et al., 2018; Williams et al., 2012). It ranks among the top 10 most prevalent diseases in the world (Hay et al., 2014; Tuchayi et al., 2015), and its rate dramatically increases during adolescence (Silverberg & Silverberg, 2014). Perhaps because of its ubiquity and minimal threat to physical health, acne has been dismissed as a trivial bump on the skin and a temporal nuisance that occurs in the passage of adolescence. However, recent research has begun to elucidate the magnitude of the impact acne has on adolescents’ (and adults’) psychological health, including clinically significant symptoms such as depression and anxiety.

What Is Acne?

Acne vulgaris is a chronic inflammatory disease of the skin involving the pilosebaceous unit – hair follicles associated with an oil gland (Tuchayi et al., 2015; Zaenglein, 2018...

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Correspondence to Misaki N. Natsuaki .

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Natsuaki, M.N., Perez, E.V., Mehrkesh, A. (2022). Acne. In: Levesque, R.J. (eds) Encyclopedia of Adolescence. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32132-5_815-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32132-5_815-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-32132-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-32132-5

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