Cigarette smoking and the onset and persistence of major depressive disorder among adults in the United States: 1994–2005

Abstract

s / Drug and Alcohol Dependence 146 (2015) e2–e33 e33 Financial support: NIH/NIDA R01 DA003240 (MEC), F31DA036248-01 (NEZ). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2014.09.768 Cigarette smoking and the onset and persistence of major depressive disorder among adults in the United States: 1994–2005 Michael Zvolensky1,2, Jafar Bakhshaie1, Renee Goodwin3,4 1 Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, TX, Unites States 2 MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, Unites States 3 Psychology, Queens College, City University of New York, New York, NY, Unites States 4 Epidemiology, Columbia University, New York, NY, Unites States Aims: Thepresent study sought to investigatewhether cigarette smoking is (a) associated with increased risk of onset and persistence of major depressive disorder (MDD) and whether smoking cessation maintenance reduces the risk of onset and persistence of MDD over a 10-year period among adults in the United States. Methods: Data were drawn from the Midlife Development in the United States Survey (MIDUS) Waves I and II (N=2101). Logistic regression analyses were used to investigate the relations between smoking and the onset and persistent of MDD, adjusting for demographic characteristics and substance use problems. Results: Daily smoking in 1994 and persistent daily smoking (from 1994 to 2005) predicted a significantly increased likelihood of past-year incident and persistent MDD by 2005. These associations largely remained statistically significant after adjusting for demographics and substance use problems. Successful smoking abstention significantly reduced the risk of recent incidence and persistence of MDD. Conclusions: The present longitudinal data provide novel insights into the role of smoking in the onset and persistence of MDD. Namely, smoking is associated with a significant increased risk of MDD and quitting helps to reduce such risk. Specifically, the longer the duration of abstinence/successful quitting, the lower the riskof subsequentonset ofMDD. Themental healthbenefits of quitting smoking in the form of reduced risk of MDD should be added to common information listed as the reasons to quit. Financial support: None. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2014.09.777