Study: Nearly 1 in 5 U.S. teens had depression, linked to higher substance use

Nearly 1 in 5 U.S. adolescents experienced depression between 2021 and 2023, and those teens were significantly more likely to use substances such as alcohol, marijuana and opioids, a University of Mississippi study found.

Researchers Andrew Yockey, an assistant professor of public health at the University of Mississippi, and graduate student Aminul Apu reviewed National Survey on Drug Use and Health data for 2021-2023 and reported their findings in the Journal of Medicine, Surgery and Public Health. They found alcohol and marijuana were the most commonly used substances among youth, with tobacco, inhalants and opioids used less often. The authors said about 20% of youth reported at least one major depressive episode in the past year.

The study identified higher risk among certain groups. Yockey and Apu said rural youth, teen girls — who were three times more likely to report depression — and non-Hispanic white youth, who had the highest use rates of marijuana, inhalants and tobacco, were among those at elevated risk.

Yockey urged integrated treatment for mental health and substance use. “We wanted to look at the shifting patterns and correlations between depression and drug use,” he said. Apu, a second-year public health masters student, said better understanding the overlap could inform prevention and treatment. “This can inform things like treatment and prevention,” Apu said.

Yockey said he will expand the work through a National Institutes of Health-funded partnership with the University of Mississippi Medical Center to study suicidal thoughts in relation to methamphetamine use. “The third-leading cause of death for young adults in Mississippi is suicide,” he said, adding that methamphetamine use in the state rose nearly 150% between 2015 and 2019. The researchers said the work was supported in part by NIH grant no. 5U54GM115428-10.

Source: Original Article