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Teenagers who use speed or ectasy are more likely to experience depression, according to a new study.

A five year research conducted with thousands of local teenagers by University of Montreal researchers shows that speed (meth/ampthetamine) and Ecstasy (MDMA) -using grade ten students were respectively 1.7 and 1.6 times more likely to be depressed by the time they reached grade eleven.

"Our findings are consistent with other human and animal studies that suggest long-term negative influences of synthetic drug use," said co-author Frédéric N. Brière of the School Environment Research Group at the University of Montreal. "Our results reveal that recreational MDMA and meth/amphetamine use places typically developing secondary school students at greater risk of experiencing depressive symptoms." 

The authors analyzed data provided by 3,880 students attending schools in disadvantaged areas of Quebec. The respondents were asked a series of questions that covered their drug use - what they had used in the past year or ever in their life - and their home life. Depressive symptoms were established by using a standard epidemiological evaluation tool. 

451 participants reported using meth/amphetamines (11.6%) and 310 used MDMA (8%). 584 of all participants were analyzed as having elevated depressive symptoms (15.1%). The range of questions that the researchers asked enabled them to adjust their statistics to take into account other factors likely to affect the psychological state of the student, such as whether there was any conflict between the parents and the participant. 

The authors are planning to do further research into how drug combinations affect a person's likelihood to suffer depression and they are keen to learn more about the differences between adults and adolescents in this area. 

"Our study has important public health implications for adolescent populations," claimed Jean-Sébastien Fallu, a professor at the University of Montreal and study co-author. "Our results reinforce the body of evidence in this field and suggest that adolescents should be informed of the potential risks associated with MDMA and meth/amphetamine use."

The study "Prospective associations between meth/amphetamine (speed) and MDMA (ecstasy) use and depressive symptoms in secondary school students" was published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health on Wednesday.