The belief that young people begin sex and drug behaviors to help them cope with depression could be completely wrong suggests new research. Rather, it may be those behaviors that actually trigger the onset of depression in the first place. "Findings from the study show depression came after substance and sexual activity, not the other way around," says researcher Denise Dion Hallfors, whose study was published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. The research also found there were gender-specific pathways to depression in adolescents. "For females, even modest involvement in substance use and sexual experimentation elevates depression risk," said Hallfors. "In contrast, boys show little added risk with experimental behavior, but binge drinking and frequent use of marijuana contribute substantial risk."
The study analyzed data from a U.S. survey of over 13,000 adolescents of both genders in grades 7 to 11. Each child was placed in one of 16 groups based on his or her reported experience with a range of risk behaviors. One of the groups was "abstainers", comprised of those who had never tried alcohol, tobacco or other drugs and who were virgins.
Hallfors said she found that girls who had experimented with drugs and sex were two to three times more likely to be depressed than the girls in the abstaining group. For males, binge drinkers were four and a half times more likely to be depressed compared to abstainers and boys who had used marijuana were more than three times more likely to be depressed compared to abstainers.
As the data was collected over a two-year period, the study was able to show that the drug and alcohol use and sexual experimentation preceded the depressive symptoms. According to Hallfors, this challenges popular notions about adolescents "self-medicating" to treat their depression.
Hallfors says that because of these findings, doctors and parents should be more vigilant at looking for drug use and sexual behavior in teens. This suggestion is backed by psychiatrist Chris Lucas at the New York University Child Study Center. "Only about one in five adolescents who have depression will be recognized and diagnosed," said Lucas. "It can be quite hard to detect depression."
