Previous research showed that people who smoke report more depressive symptoms than people who don’t smoke. Therefore, in the past years, researchers aimed to better understand the role of nicotine (the active compound of cigarettes) as a contributor to the development of depressive symptoms. In this new study, we took a unique perspective and compared the link between tobacco smoking and experiencing depressive symptoms later on across three age groups: adolescents, young adults, and adults.
The study
Main Findings:
Across three age groups (adolescents, young adults and adults), this study did not find strong evidence for a link between tobacco smoking and experiencing depressive symptoms 0.5 to 2 years later. Nor for any effects of an individual’s ratio of weight to height (Body Mass Index; BMI) or gender on this link.
Main conclusion:
This study suggest that tobacco smoking may not play a significant role in predicting later feelings of depression among non-clinical samples of adolescents, young adults and adults. Other factors may play more critical roles.
Recommendations:
Future research could expand on the findings of this study by 1) examining samples of people who smoke more (often), 2) relying on more objective measures of smoking behaviour (such as biomarkers in hair of blood) instead of depending on self-reported measures, 3) zooming in on shorter time periods (e.g., day-to-day fluctuations) or longer time periods (e.g., >2 years), or 4) exploring other factors than BMI and gender that may affect the link between tobacco smoking and later experienced depressive symptoms.
Research methods
What?
Across three age groups, this study examined: 1) the link between tobacco smoking and experienced depressive symptoms later on, and 2) whether this link would be stronger or weaker depending on an individual’s BMI, and 3) whether the potential effect of BMI was different for males and females.
Who?
Participants included 2,003 adolescents (mean age = 13.8 years), 8,545 young adults (mean age = 21.6 years), and 713 adults (mean age = 45.3 years) from the Netherlands.
How?
Three existing datasets were used consisting of three survey measurements across a period of 1.5 to 2 years, which all included questions on smoking behaviour and experienced depressive symptoms. In the analyses, we classified participants as exposed to tobacco smoking when participants smoked once a week or more (adolescents) or when participants smoked more than once a week (young adults/adults). The link between tobacco smoking and experienced depressive symptoms later on was analyzed using structural equation models.
In summary
- No strong evidence was found for a link between tobacco smoking and experienced depressive symptoms later on, across all age groups.
- Neither did the study provide strong support for an effect of BMI on the strength of the link between tobacco smoking and experienced depressive symptoms later on.
- Neither did the effect of BMI on the link between tobacco smoking and experienced depressive symptoms later on differ for males or females.
- Exploratory analyses among adults did indicate that in adult females, but not adult males, depressive symptoms tended to increase with tobacco smoking.
Reference
Van Hooijdonk, K. J. M., van den Broek, N., Tan, C. Y., Vink, J. M., & Larsen, J. (2025). Current nicotine use and the development of depressive symptoms across adolescence and adulthood: A multi-dataset study exploring moderation effects of body mass index and sex. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-025-01484-4
This sci-fly was written by Kirsten van Hooijdonk (Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University) for RAD-blog, the blog on smoking, alcohol, drugs, and diet.