Research team smoking adolescents are at high risk of depression and anxiety
Jul 24, 2025
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According to a study by a team of professors at the University of West Virginia in the U.S. published in the international journal PLOS Mental Health, smoking regular cigarettes or using e-cigarettes has a 37-90% greater risk of depression or anxiety than adolescents who do not.
Using data from the U.S. Youth Smoking Survey (NYTS) between 2021 and 2023, the research team analyzed the use of general cigarettes and e-cigarettes and the relationship between depression and anxiety symptoms in 60,72 middle and high school students. Of the respondents, 21.37% used cigarettes in any form, of which 9.94% used only e-cigarettes, 3.61% smoked only regular cigarettes, and 7.80% used both products. 25.1% of the respondents said they suffer from depression-related symptoms and 29.55% said they suffer from anxiety symptoms.
As a result of the analysis, adolescents who use tobacco products had a significantly higher risk of depression and anxiety than adolescents who did not use tobacco products, and the degree of risk varies greatly depending on the type of product use. Adolescents who use both regular cigarettes and e-cigarettes had a 90% higher risk of depression, 58% higher risk of anxiety symptoms, and 75% higher risk of overall psychological problems than those who did not use cigarettes at all. When using only e-cigarettes, the risk of depression was 70%, the risk of anxiety symptoms was 37%, and the risk of overall psychological problems was 52%, and adolescents who used only regular cigarettes had a 68% higher risk of depression, 45% higher risk of anxiety, and 56% higher risk of overall psychological problems.
The research team pointed out that it is particularly important to understand the interaction between tobacco use and mental health during this period because adolescence is a developmental period in which health-related risk behavior begins.
In the United States, increasing adolescents' anxiety, depression, and suicide rates are emerging as social problems, and tobacco use and mental health problems are known to have a complex and two-way relationship. The research team emphasized that, given the current youth mental health crisis, addressing tobacco use, especially e-cigarettes, can be an important factor in mitigating these mental health problems.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
