The risk of suicide rises sharply among teens who drink when they are feeling depressed, a new study finds.

Reuters reported May 8 that suicide risk increased 68 percent among students in grades 7-12 who drank when they felt depressed and had previously thought about suicide. Risk also increased threefold among those teens who never contemplated suicide previously, according to researcher Elizabeth A. Schilling of the University of Connecticut Health Center and colleagues.

The authors said the findings demonstrated the need to screen teens for alcohol use that could predict impulsive suicides.

The study was published in the April 2009 issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health.