Smoking, alcohol consumption and mental health: Data from the Brazilian study of Cardiovascular Risks in Adolescents (ERICA)

INTRODUCTION: Previous researches have indicated a strong association of alcohol and tobacco use with psychiatric disorders, but the relationship with depression and anxiety symptoms is still uncertain. We investigated the association of psychological distress and alcohol consumption, tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS) among adolescents in a developing country. METHODS: The authors evaluated 73,399 individuals (12–17 years) who participated in the Cardiovascular Risks Study in Adolescents (ERICA), a cross-sectional, national and school-based study, carried out in 124 Brazilian municipalities. The variables considered were alcoholic beverages (experimentation, consumption in the previous month and frequency of use) and smoking (experimentation, current smoking habits, frequent smoking and SHS exposure). Psychological distress was defined as a score ≥ 3 points in GHQ-12. Analyses included multiple logistic regression modeling. RESULTS: The frequency of individuals with psychological distress was higher in the group who smoked for at least 7 consecutive days (53.3% vs 31.2%; OR: 2.17; 95%CI: 1.65–2.86), were exposed to SHS indoors (37.8% vs 29.8%; OR:1.30; 95%CI: 1.14–1.48), and outdoors (37.7% vs 26.6%; OR: 1.49; 95%CI: 1.28–1.74), and among young people who consumed at least 1 drink of alcohol in the previous 30 days (42.4% vs 28.6%; OR: 1.70; 95%CI: 1.46–1.97), when compared to adolescents not exposed. CONCLUSIONS: Smoking (passively and actively) and the consumption of alcoholic beverages are associated to psychological distress in the adolescent population. Avoiding smoking and the use of alcohol may have beneficial effects on the mental health. Our data reinforce the urgent necessity to prevent effectively underage access to legal drugs in Brazil.