Sexually experienced middle-and high-school teenagers with higher levels of depressive symptoms are more likely to engage in risky sexual behaviour. It is important for parents to be familiar with signs of depression among adolescent boys and girls. In addition to providing strong and consistent emotional support to their teens, it is important for parents to encourage and actively support their teens in seeking mental health care when needed. As many as 20% of adolescents may experience major depression. Half of new cases of sexually transmitted infections occur in adolescents, while teens also face a disproportionate risk of contracting HIV. To investigate whether symptoms of depression might be linked to sexual risk taking, researchers from the University of California in San Francisco, USA, analysed results of a large study of adolescent health that included 4,152 boys and girls who were interviewed at home in 1995 and once again a year later. Interviewers assessed study participants' levels of depressive symptoms using a questionnaire. It was found that the higher the boys scored on the test at the first interview, the more likely they were to report a year later that they had not used condoms or any other type of birth control the last time they had sex. They were also more likely to have used drugs or alcohol before their last sexual encounter. Girls who scored high on the test were less likely to have used birth control or condoms the last time they had sex, and were more likely to have had three or more sexual partners over the previous year. There are many possible reasons why teens with symptoms of depression might be more likely to take sexual risks. 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. Teens may also use sex as a way to cope with their symptoms of depression. The above findings provide reason to increase efforts to promote mental health, and to prevent, identify and treat depression among adolescents.
Pediatrics,
July 2006