Nathan Ming

Analysis of Anxiety and Depression in the Context of Commercially-Available Energy Beverage Consumption

Started Nov. 8, 2020

Abstract or project description

Introduction - Energy drinks are common in the diets of teenagers. Despite the increase in consumption in American teenagers, little has been done to study its effects on the anxiety and depressive behaviors of teenagers.

Methods - 25 participants were selected including a majority of Asians and Caucasians between the ages of 12 to 22 with an average age of 16.04 years old. The participants filled out a survey that recorded a baseline for a week, and then drank increasing dosages of energy drinks the following week while continuing to fill out a survey. They filled out a survey that was designed with SIG E CAPS indicators on each day, and the results were compared using a student’s t-test.

Results - The results were not statistically significant, but this supports that the caffeine limit set by the Food and Drug Administration does indeed prevent negative effects of caffeine on adolescents. One participant, with a pre-existing psychiatric condition, withdrew from the study after his markers of anxiety were significantly higher in the week that he took the energy drinks.

Discussion - While the study was limited in both scale and dosage, it did fall in alignment with the body of literature that preceded it. To formulate a statistically significant study with results that have a higher confidence level, the dosage of caffeine and the number of participants who consume it would need to be increased.

Conclusion - The study, while not being statistically significant, reinforced the pediatric limit of caffeine and opened the door to further studies that involve a higher dosage or more participants.