(HealthDay News) -- Adding to the growing evidence that mental illness in childhood can lead to problems later in life, a new Finnish study suggests that depressed kids are more likely to grow up to become smokers.
Researchers who tracked 2,300 boys over a 10-year period reported that those who had symptoms of depression at age 8 were 20 percent more likely than others to smoke at age 18. The depressed boys were also 40 percent more likely to become heavy smokers. The study is apparently the first to find a link between childhood depression and adult smoking in a large sample of people, the researchers said. The findings were presented on May 25, 2006, at the American Psychiatric Association's annual meeting, in Toronto. For more on this story go here
Hmmmm, I wish they studied girls too.
I was a depressed child and am an adult who takes medication for depression. But I never smoked. Tried it once, hated it. Now, chocolate on the other hand....
Does this research generalize to any of you reading this?
Researchers who tracked 2,300 boys over a 10-year period reported that those who had symptoms of depression at age 8 were 20 percent more likely than others to smoke at age 18. The depressed boys were also 40 percent more likely to become heavy smokers. The study is apparently the first to find a link between childhood depression and adult smoking in a large sample of people, the researchers said. The findings were presented on May 25, 2006, at the American Psychiatric Association's annual meeting, in Toronto. For more on this story go here
Hmmmm, I wish they studied girls too.
I was a depressed child and am an adult who takes medication for depression. But I never smoked. Tried it once, hated it. Now, chocolate on the other hand....
Does this research generalize to any of you reading this?
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APA Toronto 2006 Conference
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