Child angst leads to agony of ecstasy (AFP)

PARIS (AFP) - Children who are anxious or depressed are more prone to being tempted by the "party" drug ecstasy when they are older, a study published by the British Medical Journal said.

Researchers from the Erasmus Medical Centre in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam looked at 1,580 children aged between four and 17 in 1983 as part of a long-term population study.

The children's emotional state was assessed according to a 120-point checklist, such as whether they were withdrawn, aggressive or delinquent, anxious, had attention problems and so on.

The same group was then reassessed in 1997 when aged between 18 and 33.

Children who had had symptoms of anxiety and depression were twice as likely to use ecstasy in their teenage years or early adulthood as counterparts who had had not such problems.

Scientists have long seen a link between ecstasy and emotional problems.

But it has been unclear whether these problems lead to the drug, whether the drug causes the problem -- or whether both may be true.

The latest evidence suggests that troubled children are vulnerable to the allure of ecstasy because it offers feelings of euphoria, relaxation and other feelings, the paper said.

The authors described such form of ecstasy-taking as "self-medication," in which depressed people take the drug to feel better.

But these individuals could also be making their troubles worse, they warned.

Ecstasy is known to have toxic effects on specific brain cells and many individuals have suffered phobias, panic attacks and a mood slump from taking the drug, they said.

Ecstasy -- lab name 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, or MDMA -- causes the release of a brain chemical called serotonin.

A major breakdown product of serotonin is 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA), which activates brain cells associated with comfort, well-being, tactile sensitivity and empathy.

In the Netherlands, the drug first appeared at dance parties in 1985. In 2001, it was used by nearly one in seven people in the 20-24 age group, the study said.