Relationship between depression and the initiation of marijuana use among adolescents aged 12-17 in the United States

Background: Adolescence is a time of enormous physical, emotional, social and psychological transition. Depression is the most common mental health problem among adolescents. In 2007, there were 2.0 million youths (8.2 percent of the population aged 12-17) who reported at least one major depressive episode (MDE) during the past year. The rate of MDE in the past year was higher for adolescents female (11.9%) than for adolescent males (4.6%). In 2007, 12.5% adolescents aged 12-17 reported past year marijuana use. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between depression measured by MDE and the initiation of marijuana use among adolescents. Data and Methods: This research uses 2007 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). The NSDUH 2007 survey includes questions for adolescents to assess past year MDE and their use of marijuana, alcohol, and other drug use during 12 months prior to the interview. To control for the effect of complex survey design, svy command in STATA is used in both bi-variate and multivariate analysis. Unadjusted and adjusted logistic regression models are estimated for measuring the relationship between MDE and initiation of marijuana use. Results: Logistic regression results show adolescents aged 12-17 who experienced a past year MDE were two times more likely to have initiated marijuana use (i.e., those who had never used marijuana previously), than their counterparts who had not experienced a past year MDE. When other socio-demographic factors are controlled for, the relationship between MDE and initiation of marijuana use remain significant.