Air pollution linked to symptoms of depression in adolescents

According to recent study published by the American Psychological Association, teenage exposure to ozone from air pollution has been related to an increase in depressed symptoms over time, even in communities that fulfill air quality requirements.

When different contaminants from motor vehicle exhaust, power plants, and other sources react with sunlight, ozone is created. Higher levels of ozone have been related to a variety of health problems, including asthma, respiratory infections, and early mortality from respiratory causes. This is the first research to show a connection between ozone levels and the progression of depressive symptoms in teenagers over time. Consistent feelings of despair or hopelessness, difficulties concentrating, sleep disorders, and suicidal thoughts are all possible signs.

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“I believe our results highlight the significance of addressing the influence of air pollution on mental health as well as physical health,” said lead researcher Erika Manczak, PhD, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Denver.

The researchers looked examined data from 213 teenage participants (ages 9 to 13) in a prior study regarding early life stress in the San Francisco Bay area. The researchers examined data on the teenagers’ mental health over a four-year period with Census tracts for their home addresses and California Environmental Protection Agency air quality data for those tracts.

Even though the ozone levels in their communities did not exceed state or national air quality regulations, adolescents who resided in locations with comparatively higher ozone levels had substantial increases in depressed symptoms over time. The results were unaffected by the participants’ gender, age, race, family income, parental education, or neighborhood socioeconomic features. The study was published in the journal Developmental Psychology online.

According to the findings, higher ozone levels indicated an increase in depressed symptoms over time. ?

According to recent study published by the American Psychological Association, teenage exposure to ozone from air pollution has been related to an increase in depressed symptoms over time, even in communities that fulfill air quality requirements.

When different contaminants from motor vehicle exhaust, power plants, and other sources react with sunlight, ozone is created. Higher levels of ozone have been related to a variety of health problems, including asthma, respiratory infections, and early mortality from respiratory causes. This is the first research to show a connection between ozone levels and the progression of depressive symptoms in teenagers over time. Consistent feelings of despair or hopelessness, difficulties concentrating, sleep disorders, and suicidal thoughts are all possible signs.

“I believe our results highlight the significance of addressing the influence of air pollution on mental health as well as physical health,” said lead researcher Erika Manczak, PhD, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Denver.

The researchers looked examined data from 213 teenage participants (ages 9 to 13) in a prior study regarding early life stress in the San Francisco Bay area. The researchers examined data on the teenagers’ mental health over a four-year period with Census tracts for their home addresses and California Environmental Protection Agency air quality data for those tracts.

Is ozone exposure associated to teenage depression?

Ozone is a highly reactive gas made up of three oxygen atoms in each molecule (O3). It is a natural substance found in the Earth’s highest atmosphere, the stratosphere, where it is very useful and aids in the reduction of damaging UV rays reaching Earth. However, at the lower layers of the atmosphere, the troposphere, ozone is formed as a consequence of human activity. Ground-level ozone is a dangerous pollutant that humans inhale, and its quantities are limited by environmental regulations.

When numerous contaminants from motor vehicle exhausts, power plants, and other sources react in the presence of sunlight, ozone is created. It’s a part of “smog” that may be found in many big cities, as well as smaller towns, and can be blown by the wind to practically any area. Higher levels of this gas have been associated to a variety of illnesses, including asthma, respiratory infections, and early mortality from respiratory causes.

A recent research published by the American Psychological Association is the first to correlate ozone pollution exposure to an increase in depressed symptoms in teenagers, even in areas where air quality criteria are met. Those symptoms include chronic depression or despair, difficulties concentrating, sleep issues, poor academic performance, and suicidal thoughts.

Previous studies seeking to uncover environmental factors that contribute to the development of depression have mostly focused on individual and family-level psychosocial traits, such as interpersonal connection quality or socioeconomic resources. There has been very little study on the effect of pollution in the development of mental health disorders.

Dr. Erika Manczak, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Denver, stated, “I believe our results really speak to the necessity of recognizing air pollution’s influence on mental health in addition as physical health.”

Over a four-year period, the researchers looked at whether levels of neighborhood ozone predicted the onset of depression symptoms in 213 teenagers (57 percent female; 53 percent male; minority race/ethnicity). At the outset, the average age of the participants was 11.4 years old, and they all resided in the San Francisco Bay region. During the four-year study, the individuals self-reported depressed and other psychopathology symptoms up to three times.

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