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Friday, November 16, 2007

The NSDUH Report: Depression and the Initiation of Alcohol and Other Drug Use among Young Adults

Highlights:

  • Major depressive episodes in lifetime or past year were assessed in SAMHSA's National Survey on Drug Use and Health among young adults aged 18 to 25. A major depressive episode was defined using the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria which specifies a period of two weeks or longer during which there is either depressed mood or loss of interest or pleasure and at least four other symptoms that reflect a change in functioning (such as problems with sleeping, eating, energy, concentration, and self image).
  • Data from SAMHSA's National Surveys on Drug Use and Health were used to examine the following among young adults in the past year: major depressive episode, initiation of alcohol or illicit drug use, and the association between such new alcohol and/or illicit drug use and major depressive episode.
  • Combined data from SAMHSA's 2005 and 2006 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health found an annual average of 9.4% of young adults (about 3 million) had experienced at least one major depressive episode during the past year. Rates of major depressive episode varied by gender, racial group, and Hispanic status.
  • About 1.5 million young adults (25.1% of the young adults who had not used alcohol previously) used alcohol for the first time in the past year.
  • About 870,000 young adults (6.1% of the young adults who had not used an illicit drug previously) used at least one illicit drug in the past year.
  • Among young adults who had not used alcohol previously, 33.7% of those with a major depressive episode started using alcohol compared with 24.8% of the young adults who had not experienced a major depressive episode in the past year.
  • Among young adults who had not used any illicit drug previously, those who experienced a major depressive episode in the past year were twice as likely to have initiated use of an illicit drug than young adults who had not experienced a major depressive episode in the past year (12.0% vs. 5.8%).
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