Depression and Substance Use
Depression and substance use disorders affect millions of people each year. Rates are relatively low in childhood and rapidly increase in adolescence, with earlier onset predictive of greater severity in later adulthood. Both are highly comorbid with one another and with other forms of mental illness, including anxiety disorders and antisocial behavior. They also both run in families, with children of a depressed or substance use disordered parent 2 to 3 times as likely to develop depression or substance use disorder themselves. In this Webinar, Dr. Wilson provides an overview of depression and substance use in adolescence and adulthood, including issues of prevalence, risk factors, comorbidity, and familial transmission.
About the Presenter
Dr. Sylia Wilson
Dr. Sylia Wilson, PhD is a McKnight Land-Grant Assistant Professor at the Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota. She uses twin, adoption, and family studies to understand the developmental processes that lead to mental illness and their transmission through families. She integrates developmental, clinical, and neuroscience approaches to identify neurobiological and environmental risk for depression and substance use. By elucidating potential causal mechanisms, this research guides preventive-intervention efforts for children, adolescents, adults, and their families.