Citation

Chadi N, Li G, Cerda N, Weitzman ER. J. Addict. Med. 2019; 13(5): 362-365.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, American Society of Addiction Medicine, Publisher Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1097/ADM.0000000000000506

PMID

30688723

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: E-cigarette use has increased dramatically among adolescents in the past 5 years alongside a steady increase in daily use of marijuana. This period coincides with a historic rise in depression and suicidal ideation among adolescents. In this study, we describe the associations between e-cigarette and marijuana use and depressive symptoms and suicidality in a large nationally representative sample of high school students.
METHODS: We used data from the 2 most recent waves (2015 and 2017) of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Our sample (n = 26,821) included only participants with complete information for age, sex, race/ethnicity, and exposure to e-cigarettes and marijuana (89.5% of survey respondents). We performed multivariate logistic regressions to explore the associations between single or dual use of e-cigarette and marijuana and depressive and suicidal symptoms in the past year adjusting for relevant confounders.
RESULTS: E-cigarette-only use was reported in 9.1% of participants, marijuana-only use in 9.7%, and dual e-cigarette/marijuana use in 10.2%. E-cigarette-only use (vs no use) was associated with increased odds of reporting suicidal ideation (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]:1.23, 95% CI 1.03-1.47) and depressive symptoms (AOR: 1.37, 95% CI 1.19-1.57), which was also observed with marijuana-only use (AOR: 1.25, 95% CI 1.04-1.50 and AOR: 1.49, 95% CI 1.27-1.75) and dual use (AOR: 1.28, 95% CI 1.06-1.54 and AOR: 1.62, 95% CI 1.39-1.88).
CONCLUSIONS: Youth with single and dual e-cigarette and marijuana use had increased odds of reporting depressive symptoms and suicidality compared to youth who denied use. There is a need for effective prevention and intervention strategies to help mitigate adverse mental health outcomes in this population.

Language: en

Keywords

Humans; Risk Factors; United States; Female; Logistic Models; Male; Multivariate Analysis; Students; Adolescent; Depression; Adolescent Behavior; Risk-Taking; Suicidal Ideation; Surveys and Questionnaires; Data Analysis; Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems; Marijuana Use