The purpose of this research is to examine how certain factors can have an impact on the level of depressive symptoms or psychological distress among the adolescent population. Although research has been conducted on this topic, the recent release of results from the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) provides new data to be analyzed concerning this population. For the purpose of this study, the dependent variable chosen was depression, described in CHIS as psychological distress. The main independent variables included were alcohol use and gender. The additional independent variables analyzed consisted of age, family type, parent education, household size, race, and poverty level. The hypotheses for these examined relationships were that higher psychological distress is likely associated with higher levels of drinking, female adolescents are more likely to experience higher levels of psychological distress, and adolescents living in single parents families are more likely to experience higher levels of psychological distress compared to their peers with married parents.

Using t tests, results showed that females displayed a much higher level of psychological distress than their male peers and adolescents who reported drinking alcohol had significantly higher levels of psychological distress than their peers who abstained. The variables of family type and race yielded no significant difference in psychological distress. Lastly, the multivariate analysis conducted using a two-way ANOVA showed that adolescent females who drank were much more likely to experience psychological distress than their male peers who drank. Implications for social work practice are subsequently discussed.