A BINATIONAL SCHOOL SURVEY OF DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS, DRUG-USE, AND SUICIDAL IDEATION

Abstract

New findings are presented from a survey of depressive symptoms, illicit drug use, and suicidality among 4,157 adolescents attending school in six border cities in Texas and neighboring Tamaulipas, Mexico. Among the Texas youth, 48.08\% scored above 16 on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies' Depression Scale (CES-D); 21\% reported illicit drug use in the past month; and 23.43\% said they had thought about killing themselves during the past week. Rates were lower among the Mexican youth: 39.41 \% had high CES-D scores; 4.95\% reported drug use and 11.57\% reported current suicidal ideation. Multivariate models are presented to show the linkage between psychological distress, drug use, and suicidality in this sample of border youth.