HealthDay (6/8, Preidt) reports, “Teens with major depression who receive and respond to treatment are less likely to abuse drugs in the following years,” according to a study published in the April-May issue of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. “The study included 192 participants, aged 12 to 18, at 11 sites across the United States who were treated for major depression and then followed for five years.” Researchers found that “during the follow-up, 10 percent of [teens] whose depression receded after 12 weeks of treatment later abused drugs, compared with 25 percent of those who did not respond to depression treatment.”
Teens With Mental Health Disorders More Likely To Become Addicted To Opioid Painkillers. MedWire (6/8, Mahendra) reports, “Adolescents with mental health disorders are significantly more likely to become addicted to prescription opioid pain relievers than those without mental disorders,” according to a study published in the June issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health. “A longitudinal analysis of 59,077 adolescents and young adults aged 13-24 years” also “showed that those with mental health disorders were significantly more likely to be prescribed opioids for chronic back pain, neck pain, headache, or arthritis/joint pain than those without mental health disorders.”
Related Links:
— “Depressed Teens Who Respond to Treatment Less Likely to Abuse Drugs,”Robert Preidt , HealthDay, June 7, 2012.