Advertising Disclaimer
Published online November 1, 2006
PEDIATRICS Vol. 118 No. 5 November 2006, pp. 1907-1915 (doi:10.1542/peds.2006-1221)
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow E-mail this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My File Cabinet
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Web of Science (3)
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Wu, P.
Right arrow Articles by Canino, G. J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Wu, P.
Right arrow Articles by Canino, G. J.
Related Collections
Right arrow Neurology & Psychiatry
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Facebook   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

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, 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.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Facebook Facebook   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 PediatricsHome page
E. F. Rothman, E. M. Edwards, T. Heeren, and R. W. Hingson
Adverse Childhood Experiences Predict Earlier Age of Drinking Onset: Results From a Representative US Sample of Current or Former Drinkers
Pediatrics, August 1, 2008; 122(2): e298 - e304.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Evid. Based Ment. HealthHome page
Et al
Evid. Based Ment. Health, August 1, 2007; 10(3): 71 - 72.
[Full Text] [PDF]