Teen smokers more likely to develop depression and anxiety

By Stephen Beech

Teenage vapers and smokers have higher rates of depression and anxiety, new research reveals.

Adolescents who use either e-cigarettes or conventional tobacco products - such as cigarettes, cigars, hookah and pipes - are "significantly" more likely to report symptoms of depression and anxiety than teens who don’t use tobacco products at all, according to the American study.

Study lead author Noor Abdulhay said: "Tobacco use and mental health challenges are known to have a complex relationship.

"Understanding the interplay between adolescent tobacco use and mental health is particularly important, since adolescence is a critical developmental period during which many health-related risk-taking behaviors begin.

"Moreover, there are increasing rates of anxiety, depression, and suicide among adolescents as well as shifting patterns of tobacco use."

For the study, researchers used data on tobacco use, depression and anxiety symptoms, among different groups from the 2021-2023 National Youth Tobacco Survey in the United States.

Of the 60,072 middle and high school students who had completed all questionnaires in full, just over one-in-five (21.37%) had used tobacco products, with 9.94% using only e-cigarettes, 3.61% using only CTPs, and 7.8% using both.

Just over a quarter (25.21%) of the respondents reported symptoms associated with depression while 29.55% reported anxiety symptoms, according to the findings published in the journal PLOS Mental Health.

Compared to adolescents who had not used any tobacco products, users of e-cigarettes or conventional tobacco products displayed a potentially heightened risk of depression and anxiety, whilst those who used both conventional tobacco products and vapes had the highest odds of reporting mental health struggles

Abdulhay, a doctoral candidate in epidemiology at West Virginia University, added: "While causality cannot be determined, the results from this study showed that all forms of tobacco use were significantly associated with mental health issues.

"There is a need to continue promoting mental health support and implementing tailored interventions to combat all forms of tobacco use among adolescents.”