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Characterising heterogeneity in the use of different cannabis products: latent class analysis with 55 000 people who use cannabis and associations with severity of cannabis dependence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 October 2019

Sam Craft Open the ORCID record for Sam Craft [Opens in a new window] ,
Adam Winstock ,
Jason Ferris ,
Clare Mackie ,
Michael T. Lynskey  and
Tom P. Freeman
Sam Craft
Affiliation:
National Addiction Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
Adam Winstock
Affiliation:
University College London, London, UK Global Drug Survey Ltd, London, UK
Jason Ferris
Affiliation:
Centre for Health Services Research, University of Queensland, QLD, Australia
Clare Mackie
Affiliation:
National Addiction Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
Michael T. Lynskey
Affiliation:
National Addiction Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
Tom P. Freeman*
Affiliation:
National Addiction Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK University College London, London, UK Addiction and Mental Health Group (AIM), Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath, UK
*
Author for correspondence: Tom P. Freeman, E-mail: t.p.freeman@bath.ac.uk
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Abstract

Background

As new cannabis products and administration methods proliferate, patterns of use are becoming increasingly heterogeneous. However, few studies have explored different profiles of cannabis use and their association with problematic use.

Methods

Latent class analysis (LCA) was used to identify subgroups of past-year cannabis users endorsing distinct patterns of use from a large international sample (n = 55 240). Past-12-months use of six different cannabis types (sinsemilla, herbal, hashish, concentrates, kief, edibles) were used as latent class indicators. Participants also reported the frequency and amount of cannabis used, whether they had ever received a mental health disorder diagnosis and their cannabis dependence severity via the Severity of Dependence Scale (SDS).

Results

LCA identified seven distinct classes of cannabis use, characterised by high probabilities of using: sinsemilla & herbal (30.3% of the sample); sinsemilla, herbal & hashish (20.4%); herbal (18.4%); hashish & herbal (18.8%); all types (5.7%); edibles & herbal (4.6%) and concentrates & sinsemilla (1.7%). Relative to the herbal class, classes characterised by sinsemilla and/or hashish use had increased dependence severity. By contrast, the classes characterised by concentrates use did not show strong associations with cannabis dependence but reported greater rates of ever receiving a mental health disorder diagnosis.

Conclusions

The identification of these distinct classes underscores heterogeneity among cannabis use behaviours and provides novel insight into their different associations with addiction and mental health.

Keywords

Cannabis dependencehashishlatent class analysis: cannabis concentratespatterns of cannabis usesinsemilla
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 50 , Issue 14 , October 2020 , pp. 2364 - 2373
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019

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