Socio-demographic and behavioral predictors of Depression among Veterans in the USA

Background: While many research works have linked marijuana use to a higher risk of developing psychosis, very few studies have associated marijuana use with depression, especially among veterans. Some studies have shown a beneficial role in easing the symptoms of PTSD and other conditions that veterans frequently face. In the US, 9% of veterans reported using cannabis in the previous year. 38% of Veterans have mental health disorders wherein depression contributes to 18% of these disorders. The association between marijuana use and psychiatric disorders is complex, and a better understanding is required. Several factors have been investigated, including frequency and duration of use, age of initiation, genetic predisposition, past mental illness, and environmental impacts but little is known about Marijuana and depression from the literature. With the changing legal landscape surrounding Marijuana and the burden of mental health disorders among Veterans, in-depth scientific research is needed to inform policy decisions and provide evidence-based guidelines for the safe and effective use of marijuana, especially for vulnerable populations like veterans. Methods: We used cross-sectional data from the 2021 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System a nationally representative U.S. telephone-based survey of veterans and we extracted data for analysis. This analysis test for association between depression and possible determinants and the determinants that showed association with depression were subjected to bivariate and multivariate logistic regression to calculate odds ratios (OR) at 95% confidence interval, with depression as the dependent variable, adjusting for various factors. Results: Marijuana use increases the odds of depression by approximately 75% with an odds ratio of 2.87[ 2.50 – 3.29] and low-income status has significant association with depression having odds ratio of 1.54[1.37 – 1.73]. Other socio-demographic and behavioral determinants were not found to have significant association with depression among veterans. Conclusion: Marijuana use among veterans increases depression by almost three folds as compared to those who do not use it and low income among Veteran is found to contribute to incidence of depression by about 20%. It is important to understand these facts as marijuana legal landscape is changing fast across the United States.