New research shows teenagers that smoke or vape are more likely to experience depression or anxiety.
In the study, which was published in the journal PLOS Mental Health, experts analysed findings from the 2021-2023 National Youth Tobacco Survey, of which over 60,000 American middle and high school students took part.
Researchers discovered 21.31% of participants used tobacco-based products. The majority (9.94%) relied on e-cigarettes, with just 3.61% only using conventional tobacco products like cigars, cigarettes and hookahs.
However, 7.80% of participants were found to use both.
If these findings weren’t concerning enough, experts discovered over 25% of teenage smokers said they experienced symptoms of depression and 29% reported the same for anxiety.
What’s more, compared to teens who had never used any tobacco products, smokers and vapers displayed an increased risk of developing depression and anxiety.
In similar vein, the study showed teenagers who used traditional and digital cigarettes had the highest odds of reporting mental health struggles.
‘While causality cannot be determined, the results from this study showed that all forms of tobacco use were significantly associated with mental health issues,’ the study read. ‘There is a need to continue promoting mental health support and implementing tailored interventions to combat all forms of tobacco use among adolescents.’
Promoting such support should span outside of the states. To give context, separate figures from Action on Smoking and Health show around 1.1 million young people aged between 11 and 17 vape and 100,000 smoke in the UK.
Meanwhile, one in six young people in England aged between five and 16 experienced a mental health problem in 2020 – an increase from one in nine in 2017.
Photo by Luka Malic via UnSplash
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