Teenagers taking birth control pills say they cry more frequently, sleep too much and suffer from eating problems, study reveals

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(CNN) - Teenagers who use birth control pills are more likely to cry, sleep too much and experience eating problems compared to their peers who do not take those pills, according to a recent study published in the medical journal JAMA Psychiatry .

Research also showed that young women with this method of contraception are more prone to the risk of depression in adulthood, regardless of whether they continue with the pills as they get older.

But, researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital, University Medical Center Groningen and Leiden University Medical Center sought to analyze something more subtle: depressive symptoms, including increased crying, excessive sleep hours, feelings of worthlessness and suicidal thoughts.

READ: The contraceptive pill may not be the most effective method among teenagers

"Depressive symptoms are more frequent than clinical depression and can have a profound impact on quality of life," study co-author Hadine Joffe, vice president of research in psychiatry at Brigham and Women's Hospital, said in a press release.

“Our study is the first of this magnitude that delves into the more subtle mood symptoms, which occur much more frequently than an episode of depression, but that affect the quality of life and are worrying for girls, women and their families, ”he added.

For this study, the researchers evaluated 1,010 girls and women over a period of nine years using data from an ongoing survey in the Netherlands called TRAILS, whose acronym translates a Survey of follow-up to the individual lives of adolescents. They evaluated the use of birth control pills at 16, 19, 22 and 25 years.

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"One of the most common concerns women have when they start taking the pill, and teenage girls and their parents when a young woman considers starting this planning method, is about the immediate depressive risks," said lead author Anouk de Wit , a psychiatry trainee at the University Medical Center Groningen.

The researchers found that 16-year-old girls who took birth control pills reported more crying, more hours of sleep and more eating problems than those without the pill, although the symptoms decrease once they reach adulthood.

Researchers do not reject the use of the contraceptive pill

The authors clarified that they cannot definitively state that contraceptive pills cause depressive symptoms. The pills can contribute to these effects, but it is also possible for girls to start taking birth control pills to treat symptoms they are already experiencing.

"Due to the design of the study, we cannot ensure that the pills cause mood swings, but we have evidence that suggests that sometimes the mood swings preceded the use of the pill and sometimes its use began before they occurred," said Wit.

The researchers also highlight that their study only looked at girls and women in the Netherlands, a relatively homogeneous population. A more diverse group could yield different results.

The findings do not necessarily mean that teenage girls should avoid birth control pills, the authors insisted. These pills can have all kinds of benefits for girls, from preventing pregnancy to relieving menstrual symptoms. But depressive effects could cause them to stop taking the pill and run the risk of unwanted pregnancies, or affect their quality of life. For that reason, it is important to monitor those symptoms, the authors wrote.

Adolescents Depression Depression among girls Contraceptive pill