SERtalks – Pittsburgh

Alcohol, tobacco, and many other substances are at historically low prevalence among US adolescents and continue to decrease annually. At the same time, after a long period of relative stability, depression, suicidal behavior and death by suicide, and other mental health indicators have begun increasing among US adolescents, especially girls and women. In this talk, Dr. Keyes will provide a cross-generational and sociological framework to understand the connection (and recent disconnection) between substance use and mental health among adolescents across birth cohorts from the last 40 years, with a particular focus on gender. Topics will also include the discontinuity between temporal trends in adolescent and adult substance use/mental health, theories and evidence regarding why these patterns are emerging, and appropriate public health responses.