Background: High levels of depressive symptoms often occur among individuals that use or that are dependent on methamphetamine (MA). Thailand is currently experiencing an epidemic of MA use among youth. Understanding the nature of the relationship between depressive symptoms and MA use and identifying those most at risk can further understanding of prevention and treatment options for youth who use MA and present with depressive symptoms.
Methods: In 2011, we conducted a cross sectional epidemiologic study that examined associations between MA use and high levels of depressive symptoms among adolescents and young adults aged 14-29 living in Chiang Mai province, Thailand. A combination of cluster and systematic sampling was conducted to obtain a study sample of participants actively recruited in Chiang Mai province. Depressive symptoms were measured using a Thai translation of the Centers for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale (CES-D). The independent variables measured reported lifetime and recent MA use within the past 3 months. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to assess associations between MA use and high levels of depressive symptoms.
Results: Approximately 19% (n = 394) of the sample reported ever having consumed MA and 31% (n = 124) of lifetime users reported recent MA use within the past 3 months. Recent MA use was associated with high levels of depressive symptoms (aPOR recent use: 2.60, 95% CI: 1.20, 5.63).
Conclusions: This is one of the first studies to examine the association between MA use and high levels of depressive symptoms in a general Thai population. The odds of having high levels of depressive symptoms was significantly greater among recent MA users compared to non-users. These findings support the need for policies, programs and interventions to prevent and treat depressive symptoms presenting among MA using Thai adolescents and young adults in rural Chiang Mai province, Thailand to aid in cessation of MA use. Furthermore, additional research is needed to investigate treatment options for adolescents and young adults in Thailand that use MA and present with high levels of depressive symptoms.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4759778 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12889-016-2851-1 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Functional resting state connectivity is differentially associated with IL-6 and TNF-α in depression and in healthy controls.
Sci Rep
January 2025
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, J5, 68159, Mannheim, Germany.
Inflammatory processes have been implicated in the pathophysiology of depression. In human studies, inflammation has been shown to act as a critical disease modifier, promoting susceptibility to depression and modulating specific endophenotypes of depression. However, there is scant documentation of how inflammatory processes are associated with neural activity in patients with depression.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHealth symptoms and associated factors in times of a pandemic: a population-based study.
Arch Public Health
January 2025
Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research (Nivel), Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Background: Non-specific symptoms, such as headaches and sleep problems, are more common after disasters. They can become chronic, and impact emotional and physical functioning. However, limited research has focused on such symptoms in the context of a pandemic.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPrevalence of depressive symptom and its associated factors among epilepsy patients in Amhara region, Ethiopia: cross-sectional study.
BMC Res Notes
January 2025
Department of Otorhinolaryngology (ENT), School of Medicine, College of Medicine and Health Science, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia.
Background: Depressive symptom is the most common type of psychiatric co-morbidity among persons with epilepsy. Epilepsy patients are identified as at higher risk of suffering depressive symptom explicitly in low- and middle-income countries due to poor mental health care systems and financial burdens. The co-occurrence of depressive symptom among epilepsy patients deteriorates the prognosis of the disease and diminishes the quality of life of both the patients and their families.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCharacterizing the Profile of Anhedonia in Individuals With Schizotypal Traits, Subthreshold Depression and Autistic Traits.
Psych J
January 2025
Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory; CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Anhedonia is believed to be transdiagnostic symptom exist in various disorders including schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, and autism spectrum disorder. However, very few studies attempted to profile subclinical samples with schizophrenia, depressive, and autistic symptoms using measures of anhedonia scales. This study adopted a cluster analytical approach to examine the anhedonia profile in 46 individuals with schizotypal trait (ST), 43 subthreshold depression (SD), 27 autistic trait (AT), and 41 healthy controls.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPatient views on continued immune checkpoint inhibition following progression in advanced melanoma: A qualitative study.
Bull Cancer
January 2025
Palliative Care Unit, ULR 2694 METRICS, CHU de Lille, Université de Lille, 59000 Lille, France.
Introduction: Immune checkpoint inhibition has revolutionized the management of metastatic melanoma, including in the final stages of disease progression: because it is well tolerated, some teams do not discontinue it in hopes of slowing disease progression. The risks are that treatment may be continued unnecessarily, causing side effects, and reduce access to specialist palliative care, in addition to increasing the cost of treatment.
Method: We explored the experiences of 10 patients in a university hospital with metastatic melanoma under continued immune checkpoint inhibitors combined with specialist palliative care.
Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!