Conventional wisdom says that kids start lighting up cigarettes for many reasons: peer acceptance, teenage rebellion and to quell feelings of anxiety and sadness. A recent study conducted at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine presents a somewhat different outlook on the latter reason. These researchers say smoking may actually be the cause of teen depression rather than an attempt to self-medicate.
The investigators in this study took two types of sample groups. The first group contained 8704 teens who were not depressed based upon CES-D scores. Baseline smoking status in this group varied. The second group was composed of 6947 teens who were not currently smokers, but had a high depressive symptomology based upon CES-D score. The outcome of these two groups was to be assessed a year later. The smokers who were not currently depressed would be observed for the development of high depressive symptoms. The depressed non-smokers would be observed to see if they picked up a smoking habit of a least one pack per day.
When they followed up these two groups of adolescents what they found was surprising. For those originally not depressed, cigarette smoking was found to be the strongest predictor of developing depression. In the other group, when all possible contributing factors to teen smoking were considered, depression did not prove to be a strong predictor of heavy smoking. Previous experimentation with smoking seemed to be the strongest predictor.
The implication of this research for parents? One more important reason why preventing kids from ever smoking is vitally important. Not only is their physical health at stake, but also their mental health.
Reference:
Depressive Symptoms and Cigarette Smoking Among Teens
Pediatrics 2000; 106: 748-755.
