Teens and younger adults who are depressed are more likely to engage in casual sex while those that engage in such activities are more likely to have suicidal thoughts later in life.
Researchers from the Ohio State University found that casual sex and poor mental health reinforce each other by actively contributing to the occurrence of each other. Teens and younger adults who are depressed are more likely to engage in casual sex while those that engage in such activities are more likely to have suicidal thoughts later in life, researchers revealed in a press release.
"Several studies have found a link between poor mental health and casual sex, but the nature of that association has been unclear," said Sara Sandberg-Thoma, lead author of the study and a doctoral student in human sciences at The Ohio State University. "There's always been a question about which one is the cause and which is the effect. This study provides evidence that poor mental health can lead to casual sex, but also that casual sex leads to additional declines in mental health."
Researchers of this study were also surprised to find that the link between casual sex and poor mental health were same for both men and women.
"That was unexpected because there is still this sexual double standard in society that says it is OK for men to have casual sexual relationships, but it is not OK for women," Claire Kamp Dush, assistant professor of human sciences at Ohio State said. "But these results suggest that poor mental health and casual sex are linked, whether you're a man or a woman."
Individuals from 80 high schools and 52 middle schools were interviewed when they were in grades 7 through 12 and then again when they were aged 18 to 26. In total, 10,000 people were surveyed and asked about their romantic relationship experiences across time, as well as depressive symptoms and thoughts of suicide.
29 percent of them admitted to having casual sex, defined as "only sleeping with their partners" as opposed to dating them too. Among this, 24 percent were women and 33 percent men. Researchers found that teens that were more likely to be depressed or have thoughts of suicide were also more likely to indulge in casual sex, both as teens and young adults.
Similarly, casual sex aggravated poor mental health. It was found that individuals who indulged in this activity during their late teens and early 20s were more likely to have serious suicide thoughts as young adults.
Sandberg-Thoma and her team were not able to determine why people who had casual sex as teens had serious suicide thoughts and not depression symptoms as young adults. According to Kamp Dush, one reason could be because depressive symptoms fluctuate during adolescence and it is hard to capture an accurate reading when measured just twice, as in this study.
The findings of the study emphasize that psychiatrists and physicians need to consider more than one aspect of mental health while dealing with their patients.
"Just because a person does not indicate depressive symptoms in one survey is not always proof that he or she is doing OK," Kamp Dush said. "We need to look at multiple indicators of mental health, including suicidal thoughts."
