Smokers have different reasons as to why they choose to smoke. It is actually more common for teens to be nonsmokers than smokers. 9 out of 10 high school students do not smoke (Did you know?). But that still leaves some teens that do smoke. Whether it is just in social settings or because they like it or they do it to make themselves feel better, it still has detrimental effects. The question is, does smoking increase depression in teens?
Scientists at the University of Montreal and the University of Toronto did an observational study to test this question. It was conducted by having 662 high school students fill out 20 questionnaires from grades 7 to 11 about their use of cigarettes. The study surveyed students from all different schools so they would have diverse students. Then, they were divided into three groups: non-smokers, smokers who do not use cigarettes to improve their mood or self-medicate, and smokers who do use cigarettes to improve their mood or self-medicate. To find out if the students had depression symptoms they asked how often they felt too tired to do anything, if they had trouble sleeping, if they felt depressed, sad, or unhappy, if they had little hope for their future, and if they were nervous or worried about a lot of things.
The results showed that students who used cigarettes to improve their mood had more depressive symptoms than the non-smokers. They researchers found that students who have “emotional benefits” from smoking tend to be at a higher risk for becoming depressed. Interestingly, the correlation between depression and smoking is primarily seen in teens. Although, since this is a relatively small observational study, the results could very well be due to chance. There also could be many other things besides smoking that cause the teens to become depressed, so third variables are still an option. Also, reverse causation is very likely because teens that have depression could then start smoking to cope with their feelings.
Michael Windle, PhD, and colleague Rebecca C. Windle from the University of Alabama conducted a very similar study. They studied 1,218 students for a year and a half starting when they were sophomores and juniors. Every six months students completed questionnaires, just like in the above study. But in these questionnaries they asked questions such as “temperament, parents’ smoking habits, social support within the family, delinquent activity, alcohol and other substance use, and friends’ alcohol and drug use” (Carpenter). The results showed that students who were heavy smokers in the beginning were much more likely to become depressed over time than those who did not smoke very heavily or at all.
With this study, they also found that teens that had constant depressive symptoms in the beginning of the study tended to smoke more heavily as time went on than those who were not depressed in the beginning. Scientists are not sure whether smoking causes depression or depression causes smoking, but there is definitely a correlation both ways. I think both are very true and the correlation between depression and smoking is growing every day.
According to Michael Windle, nicotine alters the brain’s pleasure centers which causes mood to improve. But over time, the brain develops a tolerance to nicotine so it takes more to get the same effect. This causes heavier smoking. Then, when heavy smokers try to quit smoking, they are much more likely to become depressed which causes them to go back to smoking. It is a vicious cycle that is very hard to break.
In conclusion, there is a very strong correlation between smoking and depression. But, third variables, reverse causation and chance are still possible in both studies.
Sources:
University of Montreal. “Smoking can increase depressive symptoms in teens, study finds.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 27 August 2010.
“Did You Know?” – Facts About Smoking. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2014.
Carpenter, S. “Smoking and Depression Perpetuate One Another, Study Indicates.”Http://www.apa.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2014.