Depression Linked to Risky Teen Sex

A study by UCSF researcher Jocelyn Lehrer, ScD, and others suggests that sexually experienced middle school and high school teenagers with higher levels of depressive symptoms are more likely to engage in risky sexual behaviors. The study, published in the July 1, 2006, issue of the journal Pediatrics, underscores that it is important for parents to be familiar with signs of depression among teen boys and girls, and to encourage and assist teens in seeking mental health care when needed, said Lehrer, a researcher with the Bixby Center for Reproductive Health Research & Policy. To investigate whether symptoms of depression might be linked to subsequent sexual risk taking, Lehrer and her colleagues analyzed data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, a national study of US middle school and high school students. Lehrer analyzed data from 4,152 sexually experienced boys and girls, who were interviewed at home in 1995 and again one year later. At the time of the first interview, participants' levels of the past week's depressive symptoms were assessed using a 19-item questionnaire. At the second interview one year later, participants were asked about their sexual risk behaviors in the past year. The higher that boys scored on the depressive symptoms scale at the first interview, the more likely they were to report one year later that they had not used condoms or other birth control the last time they had had sex, and the more likely they were to report use of alcohol or other drugs the last time they had had sex. The higher that girls scored on the depressive symptoms scale, the more likely they were to have not used condoms or other birth control the last time they had had sex; they were also more likely to have had three or more sexual partners in the past year. "Youth who are both emotionally distressed and socially isolated may be more likely to seek or be successfully pressured into sexual activity, in the name of some kind of shared intimacy, or to maintain relationships that they value," Lehrer said. Teens may also use sex as a way of coping with their symptoms of depression, she said. The study findings "provide only further reason to increase our efforts to promote mental health, and to prevent, identify and treat depressive symptoms and disorders among adolescents."

"Depressive Symptoms as a Longitudinal Predictor of Sexual Risk Behaviors Among US Middle and High School Students" Lehrer et al. Pediatrics 2006 118(1): 189-299. Abstract | Full Text | Full Text (PDF)