Depression Among Non-Daily Smokers Compared to Daily Smokers and Never-Smokers in the United States: An Emerging Problem.
BACKGROUND
Depression is strongly associated with daily smoking. Yet, little is known about the association between depression and non-daily smoking. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of past-year depression and changes in past-year depression over time among non-daily smokers, compared to daily smokers and never-smokers, overall and stratified by age, gender, income, nicotine dependence, and cigarettes per day.


METHODS
Data were drawn from the National Household Survey on Drug Use (NSDUH), an annual cross-sectional study of persons aged 12 and over (total study population N = 496 805). The prevalence of past-year depression was examined annually among non-daily smokers, daily smokers, and never-smokers from 2005 to 2013 using linear trend analyses.


RESULTS
Past-year depression was common among 10.10% of non-daily smokers, common among 10.78% of daily smokers, and 5.51% of never-smokers in 2013. The prevalence of depression increased from 2005 to 2013 among non-daily smokers (9.06% vs. 10.10%; p = .034) while there was no significant change in depression over time among daily smokers. Increases in depression among non-daily smokers occurred for both men and women and appear most pronounced youth, those smoking fewer cigarettes, and those without nicotine dependence.


CONCLUSIONS
The prevalence of depression among non-daily smokers was equivalent to daily smokers and nearly twice that among nonsmokers. Depression appears to be increasing over time in non-daily smokers especially among youth, those who smoke less, and those without nicotine dependence. More work on the mental health of non-daily smokers is needed as this is an increasing and understudied group.


CONCLUSIONS
This is the first study to investigate changes in the prevalence of depression among non-daily smokers compared to daily smokers and never-smokers over the past decade in a nationally representative sample of the United States. The results suggest an increase in depression among non-daily smokers over time that did not similarly occur for daily smokers. Further, there were several subgroups of non-daily smokers among whom depression has increased more rapidly. This study suggests the need for more information about the relationship between depression and non-daily smoking including the impact of depression on quit attempts and outcomes.
Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Yeshiva University, Bronx, NY.|Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY.
Andrea H
AH
Weinberger
Department of Psychology, Queens College and The Graduate Center, City University of New York (CUNY), Queens, NY.
Misato
M
Gbedemah
Department of Psychiatry, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY.|New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY.|Department of Biostatistics, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY.
Melanie M
MM
Wall
Department of Psychiatry, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY.|New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY.|Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY.
Deborah S
DS
Hasin
Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, TX.|Department of Behavioral Sciences, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX.
Michael J
MJ
Zvolensky
Ontario Tobacco Research Unit, Toronto, Canada.|Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
Michael
M
Chaiton
Department of Psychology, Queens College and The Graduate Center, City University of New York (CUNY), Queens, NY.|Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY.
Renee D
RD
Goodwin
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D000074285:Smokers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult