Depression and substance use in minority middle-school students

Objectives. This study investigated the association between depression and substance use in a sample of middle-school students. Methods. The 5721 students (59%-63% Hispanic) completed self-report items o n depressive symptoms, recent smoking and binge drinking, and lifetime use of marijuana, cocaine, and inhalants. Results. Symptoms of depression were strongly and positively related to sub stance use. For every type of use, a stepwise increase was seen between the percentage of students with low symp-torn frequency and the percentage of students with more symptoms. A sizable number of users reported symptoms in dicating major depression, Depression scores showed few clinically meaningf ul differences among demographic subgroups. Substance use scores, in contra st, showed meaningful intergroup differences for racial/ethnic group and ot her demographic variables. Conclusions. Depressive symptoms and substance use were associated in a sam ple of middle-school students who were largely non-White and predominantly Hispanic. Greater understanding of the nature of this association is needed ; this understanding should be used to design prevention programs, and prev ention programs should be introduced at least in the middle-school years.