Casual Sex Associated with Depression; Study

Casual sex and depression go hand in hand. A new study has found that depressed young adults are more likely to engage in casual sex and this in turn increases odds of being depressed.

Also, the link between casual sex and poor mental health was same for both men and women. The study was conducted by researchers at The Ohio State University

"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.

Previous research has also shown that teens indulging in casual sex are more likely to show symptoms of depression.

The study is based on data from over 10,000 people participating in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health.  Participants were asked about their love life and their mental health.

In the study, 29 percent of the respondents said that they had engaged in casual sexual relationship.

Researchers found that participants who had high levels of depression and suicide ideation were more likely to engage in casual sex when compared with others.

Casual sex was linked with further increase in mental problems. People who had sex during late teens or early adulthood had more serious thoughts about suicides, researchers found.

Each additional casual sex raised the risk of suicidal ideation by 18 percent. The study shows that there is a "cyclical pattern", in which mental problems lead to casual sex, which in turn lead to a deterioration in mental health.

"The goal should be to identify adolescents struggling with poor mental health so that we can intervene early before they engage in casual sexual relationships," Sandberg-Thoma said in a news release.

The study is published in the Journal of Sex Research.