title: Depression and Substance Use: A Temporal-Ordered Model.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study sought empirical evidence for the self-medication hypothesis. It asked whether diagnosis of depression, together with the use of mental-health care, leads to substance use.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data came from the 5-wave, longitudinal Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing (FFCW) Study, an investigation of a cohort of nearly 5,000 births, which over sampled non-marital births. FFCW examined newborns' biological mothers and fathers, all of whom lived in the United States. The adults were initially interviewed between 1998 and 2000 (the period of the cohort's births); they were then re-interviewed for four times over 10 years. FFCW measured mental health-related variables, level of drug use, and social structural and demographic factors, all of which are also measured by the present study. Respondents in our study's two final subsamples had responded to every FFCW interview item we would use in constructing our final model's variables. Our subsample of mothers totaled 3,477 women, from whom 5,987 person-waves were derived. Our subsample of fathers totaled 2,096 men, yielding 3,543 person-waves.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We used STATA generalized estimating equations for panel data, and found some evidence to support the self-medication hypothesis. In addition, our results indicated that the relationship of substance use to the use of mental-health care was gender-specific. Conclusions/Importance: Empirical evidence from this study only partially supported the self-medication hypothesis; the co-occurrence of depression and substance abuse in our sample was also reflective of social structural and demographic variables and of prior substance use variables.
authors.affiliation: a 1 Department of Sociology and Social Work, Texas Woman's University , Denton , Texas , USA.
authors.forename: Celia C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Lo
authors.affiliation: b 2 School of Social Work, University of Alabama , Tuscaloosa , Alabama , USA.
authors.forename: Tyrone C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: c 3 School of Social Work, New Mexico State University , Las Cruces , New Mexico USA.
authors.forename: Iván A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: de la Rosa
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003863:Depression / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology*; D005220:Fathers / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012651:Self Medication / Q000523:psychology*; D012737:Sex Factors; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology*; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: self-medication hypothesis; substance use; temporal-ordered model