Published online November 1, 2006
PEDIATRICS Vol. 118 No. 5 November 2006, pp. 1907-1915 (doi:10.1542/peds.2006-1221)
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ARTICLE

Childhood Depressive Symptoms and Early Onset of Alcohol Use

Ping Wu, PhDa,b,c, Hector R. Bird, MDb,c, Xinhua Liu, PhDa, Bin Fan, MDc, Cordelia Fuller, MAb, Sa Shen, PhDb,c, Cristiane S. Duarte, PhDb,c and Glorisa J. Canino, PhDd

a Mailman School of Public Health
b College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, New York
c New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, New York
d Behavioral Sciences Research Institute, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico

OBJECTIVES. Few studies have assessed the relationship between depressive symptoms and early onset of alcohol use in children and early adolescents. We aimed to determine whether depressive symptoms in children are associated with subsequent initiation of alcohol use and, if so, whether this association is merely a result of demographic, parental, and/or individual risk factors shared by depression and alcohol use or independent of these shared risk factors.

METHODS. Analyses were based on a subsample of 10- to 13-year-old children (N = 1119) from the Boricua Youth Study, a longitudinal study of psychopathology among Puerto Rican children and early adolescents. Children in the study were assessed over 3 waves between 2000 and 2004. In-person structured interviews were conducted with both parents and children.

RESULTS. Depressive symptoms and alcohol use shared some significant risk and protective factors, such as parental psychopathology, parenting, child exposure to violence, and antisocial behaviors. After controlling for these factors, the association between depressive symptoms and alcohol use was reduced, but childhood depressive symptoms were still positively associated with subsequent alcohol use initiation. Children with medium or high levels of depressive symptoms were more than twice as likely to use alcohol as those with <2 depressive symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS. The finding of the current study that early life depressive symptoms may lead to earlier onset of alcohol use indicates the importance of identifying and treating depressive symptoms in preadolescent children. It also demonstrates the importance of examining shared risk and protective factors for understanding the relationship between depressive symptoms and alcohol use.

Key Words: depression • alcohol/drug use • age at onset • children and adolescents

Abbreviations: DISC-IV—Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children, Version IV • AOR—adjusted odds ratio

Accepted Jun 22, 2006.




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