Study: Teens Don't 'SelfMedicate' Depressed Feelings; Instead, Alcohol, Drugs, Sex Lead to Depression.

Publication: Europe Intelligence Wire

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COPYRIGHT 2005 Financial Times Ltd.

(From AScribe)

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- A common belief about high-risk teens is that they use alcohol, drugs and sex to "self-medicate" depressed feelings. But new research based on nearly 13,500 teens contradicts that widely-held notion, showing instead that the alcohol, drugs and sex actually lead to depression, and not the other way around.

The research report, which studied teen subjects for two years in a row, found that depression did not predict risky behaviors in boys and girls. Instead,...

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