Anxiety and depression increase a child's likelihood of eventually using ecstasy, according to the findings of a longitudinal investigation.
Anja C. Huizink, Ph.D., and coinvestigators at Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, interviewed 1,580 individuals who had been participating in an ongoing investigation that had begun 14 years earlier in one Dutch province. They hypothesized that behavioral and emotional problems in children or adolescents would be associated with later use of ectasy, clinically known as 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA).
Participants were initially assessed in 1983 with the Child Behavior Checklist, a 120-question survey aimed at probing into mood disorders, including anxiety and depression. The 1997 follow-up analysis included 76% of the initial group of 2,076 individuals.
Mean patient age in 1983 was 10 years (range 4–17 years) and 25 years at study follow-up in 1997. There were slightly more female than male participants.
A total of 98 participants (6.2%) reported ever using ectasy. MDMA use was more prevalent among those with deviant scores on the “anxious or depressed” scale of the child behavior checklist in 1983 (hazard ratio 2.22).
There were no associations between MDMA use and the other scales. The authors noted that their study showed this association in both sexes, in contrast to previous studies showing the association only for females.
Ecstasy, they noted, would be attractive to those suffering anxiety and depression because of its euphoric and relaxing effects. However, they added, “It has been found … that in the long run, exposure to MDMA may result in increased depressive symptoms” borne of neurotoxic effects. Thus, depression might be a cause and an effect of using MDMA. “Links between emotional problems and MDMA use may run in both directions,” they said.
Other documented risk factors for ectasy use include drug use among peers, a “desire to party,” novelty seeking, and bad parenting practices.
The authors concluded that results support the idea that there is a temporal pathway linking childhood anxiety and depression to MDMA use. Future research should focus on children with such symptoms to better understand how psychological factors play into MDMA use.