title: [Association between drug consumption and depression among high school students].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The presence of emotional problems may trigger drug abuse.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine the association between illicit drug use and severity of depression symptoms among students of public secondary schools in Santiago, Chile.
  
  
  METHODS
  A probabilistic sample of 2,597 adolescents aged between 12 and 18 years (45% women), attending first year in public high-schools in Santiago, answered self-report questionnaires about consumption, during the last 30 days ,of alcohol, tobacco and marihuana, and the Beck Depression Inventory - II. Logistic regression models were used to study the association between drug use and severity of depression symptoms, adjusting by sex.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Tobacco and marihuana use was reported by 38 and 13% of students, respectively. Frequency of consumption was significantly higher among women. Mild, moderate or severe depressive symptoms were found among 16%, 14% and 9% of students, respectively. Depressive symptoms were more common among women. There was a significant association between drug use and severity of depression among participants of both genders.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The association between depressive symptoms and drug use should be considered on the design of treatment guidelines for these health problems in Chile.
authors: Clínica Psiquiátrica Universitaria, Hospital Clínico, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
authors: Graciela
authors: G
authors: Rojas
authors: Jorge
authors: J
authors: Gaete
authors: Viviana
authors: V
authors: Guajardo
authors: Vania
authors: V
authors: Martínez
authors: Sergio
authors: S
authors: Barroilhet
authors: Sergio
authors: S
authors: Barroihlet
authors: Juan
authors: J
authors: Meneses
authors: Rosemarie
authors: R
authors: Fritsch
authors: Ricardo
authors: R
authors: Araya
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D002677:Chile / Q000453:epidemiology; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008385:Marijuana Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*