Smoking has long been linked to health problems such as lung cancer and heart disease, but a new study suggests that it may also promote teen depression. Among mentally healthy teens, smokers are nearly four times as likely as nonsmokers to develop depression within a year's time.
"Cigarette use is a powerful determinant of developing high depressive symptoms," says Elizabeth Goodman of Cincinnati's Children's Hospital Medical Center, which led the study. Goodman's results came from a one-year study of 9,205 teens (Source: Children's Hospital Medical Center of Cincinnati).
Read more about effective ways to talk to your kids about not smoking.