The
NSDUH Report: Depression and the Initiation of Alcohol and Other
Drug Use among Young Adults
- HTML
format (also
has the data table used to construct each figure)
Highlights:
- Major
depressive episodes in lifetime or past year were assessed in SAMHSA's
National Survey on Drug Use and Health among young adults aged 18 to
25. A major depressive episode was defined using the DSM-IV diagnostic
criteria which specifies a period of two weeks or longer during which
there is either depressed mood or loss of interest or pleasure and at
least four other symptoms that reflect a change in functioning (such
as problems with sleeping, eating, energy, concentration, and self image).
- Data
from SAMHSA's National Surveys on Drug Use and Health were used to examine
the following among young adults in the past year: major depressive
episode, initiation of alcohol or illicit drug use, and the association
between such new alcohol and/or illicit drug use and major depressive
episode.
- Combined
data from SAMHSA's 2005 and 2006 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health
found an annual average of 9.4% of young adults (about 3 million) had
experienced at least one major depressive episode during the past year.
Rates of major depressive episode varied by gender, racial group, and
Hispanic status.
- About
1.5 million young adults (25.1% of the young adults who had not used
alcohol previously) used alcohol for the first time in the past year.
- About
870,000 young adults (6.1% of the young adults who had not used an illicit
drug previously) used at least one illicit drug in the past year.
- Among
young adults who had not used alcohol previously, 33.7% of those
with a major depressive episode started using alcohol compared with
24.8% of the young adults who had not experienced a major depressive
episode in the past year.
- Among
young adults who had not used any illicit drug previously, those
who experienced a major depressive episode in the past year were twice
as likely to have initiated use of an illicit drug than young adults
who had not experienced a major depressive episode in the past year
(12.0% vs. 5.8%).
Reports on mental
health
Reports on co-occurring
substance abuse & mental health problems
Reports on drugs
Other topics
Other
OAS publications and services
This
Short Report, The NSDUH
Report: Depression and the Initiation of Alcohol and Other Drug
Use among Young Adults,
is based on SAMHSA's National Survey on Drug
Use and Health conducted by the Office of Applied
Studies (OAS) in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
(SAMHSA). SAMHSA's National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH)
is the primary source of information on the prevalence, patterns, and
consequences of drug and alcohol use and abuse and for selected mental health measures in the general U.S. civilian non institutionalized population, age 12 and older.
SAMHSA's National Survey on Drug Use & Health also provides estimates
for drug use and for selected mental health measures by State.
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