Associations And Predictors Of Depressive Symptoms And Smoking Among Adolescents In United States

Studies done on the association of smoking and depression found inconclusive results in the direction of the association. The present study utilized public data from the Add Health to examine the associations between depressive symptoms and smoking concurrently and prospectively in adolescents, predictors of current smoking, and associations between concurrent depressive levels and smoking cessation status.

The results indicate depressive symptoms promote concurrent and prospective smoking behavior. Higher levels of depressive symptoms at Wave I was characteristic of participants who smoked in the past and smoked regular. Higher depressive symptoms in Wave II were indicative of smoking initiation and regular smoking in Wave II. Also, depressive symptoms and age predicted current smoking status. Results did not find significant differences in depressive symptoms and smoking cessation.