SMAD. Revista eletrônica saúde mental álcool e drogas
On-line version ISSN 1806-6976
Abstract
TEIXEIRA, Patrícia Santos; STEFANINI, Maria Cristina Bergonzoni; MARTINS, Raul Aragão and CRUZ, Luciana Aparecida Nogueira da. Cognitive development and depressive symptoms in adolescent alcohol users. SMAD, Rev. Eletrônica Saúde Mental Álcool Drog. (Ed. port.) [online]. 2011, vol.7, n.1, pp.03-09. ISSN 1806-6976.
Surveys on alcohol use show that people usually begin using this substance as adolescents. In this stage of development, it is common for some people to show depressive symptoms. The combination of alcohol and depressive symptoms may affect students’ cognitive and school development. This study aims at identifying and discussing on the relationship between alcohol use in adolescents, depression and the consequences on cognitive development. Participants were 127 students of two schools in the state of São Paulo, who answered the AUDIT, the BDI and Tests for Operatory Development. Results show that excessive alcohol use is significant, but we did not observe a relationship between alcohol use, depressive symptoms and low cognitive performance.
Keywords : Alcohol Beverages; Depression; Alcohol Use; Adolescents; Cognitive Development.