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A Christchurch School of Medicine and Health Sciences study has found that alcohol abuse may increase the risk of depression, instead of the other way around as was previously thought. This new study included 1,055 people born in 1977 who were assessed for alcohol abuse and depression at ages 17 to 18, 20 to 21, and 24 to 25. At all ages, alcohol abuse or dependence was associated with a 1.9 times increased risk of major depression, said David Ferguson and colleagues at the School. “The underlying mechanisms that give rise to such an association are unclear; however, it has been proposed that this link may arise from genetic processes in which the use of alcohol acts to trigger genetic markers that increase the risk of major depression,” researchers wrote. The study was published in the March issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry.