To investigate the relationship between sweetened beverage consumption and depressive symptoms among adolescents.

In a cross-sectional study, adolescents were asked how often they drank soda and fruit drinks in the past 7 d. Depressive symptoms were measured using a brief adapted version of the Modified Depression Scale. Summation scores were standardized using the Z-transformation. We used multilevel multiple linear regression models to estimate the association between soda and fruit drink consumption and depressive symptoms.

The 2008 Boston Youth Survey.

Adolescents (n 1878), high-school students in grades 9–12 of Boston public schools, Massachusetts, USA.

Compared with those who never drank soda in the past 7 d, those who consumed soda 2–6 times/week (β=0·18; 95 % CI 0·04, 0·32) or ≥1 times/d (β=0·29; 95 % CI 0·13, 0·45) had higher depressive symptoms. Similarly, those who consumed fruit drinks 2–6 times/week (β=0·14; 95 % CI 0·00, 0·28) and those who consumed ≥1 times/d (β=0·22; 95 % CI 0·04, 0·40) had higher depressive symptoms.

Frequent consumption of both soda and fruit drinks is associated with greater depressive symptoms among adolescents.