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Release Date: Sep. 10, 2004
SEX AND DRUG USE INCREASE TEEN SUICIDE RISK
By Ann Quigley, Contributing Writer
Health Behavior News Service
Teens who engage in high-risk behaviors involving sex and drugs have significantly
higher odds of depression, suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts than teens
who say no to sex and drugs, according to a study.
“These results suggest that healthcare professionals who identify adolescent
patients reporting sexual intercourse or drug use should strongly consider
screening for depression and risk of suicide,” says study author Denise
D. Hallfors, Ph.D., a Senior Research Scientist at the Pacific Institute for
Research and Evaluation in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Adolescents are no strangers to the phenomena of depression and suicide. Previous
research found 28 percent of U.S. high school students experienced severe depression,
and the third leading cause of death for 15- to 19-year-olds is suicide. Suicide
death rates among 15- to 19-year-olds doubled between 1960 and 2001, according
to the study.
Hallfors and colleagues analyzed various sex and drug behavior patterns via
data from a survey of nearly 19,000 teens in grades 7 through 12. The data
were gathered in the mid-1990s from 132 U.S. schools as part of the National
Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health.
The researchers clustered the teens in 16 groups according to their behaviors.
Groups included the abstainers, who eschewed sex and drugs; sex dabblers; alcohol
and sex dabblers; teens with multiple sexual partners; and illegal drug users.
Abstainers had the lowest levels of depression, suicidal thoughts and suicide
attempts, while teens in groups associated with sex and drugs, and heavy use
of illegal drugs such as marijuana had the highest levels. In between were
the dabblers in sex, drugs, alcohol and tobacco.
The results appear in the current issue of the American Journal of Preventive
Medicine.
The researchers found girls less likely than boys to pursue high-risk behaviors,
but girls who did were more vulnerable than boys to the constellation of depression,
suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts.
Another interesting finding involved the association of socioeconomic status
with depression. While higher socioeconomic status reduced the likelihood of
depression by about half, it increased the risk of suicidal thoughts. Hallfors
and colleagues call for more research to examine this phenomenon.
Further research is needed
to understand which comes first: sex and drugs or poor mental health. But
until then, Hallfors
and colleagues advise healthcare
professionals to screen all teens for sexual behaviors and drug use. Those
who engage in such behaviors—especially those who do more than dabble
in them—should be screened for depression and suicide risk also.
“It is particularly important not to miss opportunities to diagnose
depression because effective treatments are available, or to overlook suicide
risk because suicide can be prevented,” Hallfors says.
Funding for the study was from the National Institute of Drug Abuse.
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FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Health Behavior News Service: (202) 387-2829 or www.hbns.org.
Interviews: Contact Denise Hallfors, PhD, (919) 265-2600 or e-mail Hallfors@PIRE.org.
American Journal of Preventive Medicine: Contact the editorial office at (858)
457-7292.
Center for the Advancement of Health
Contact: Ira R. Allen
Director of Public Affairs
202.387.2829
press@cfah.org |
