Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-cfpbc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-20T03:50:32.464Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Psychosocial functioning among regular cannabis users with and without cannabis use disorder

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 November 2017

Katherine T. Foster ,
Brooke J. Arterberry ,
William G. Iacono ,
Matt McGue  and
Brian M. Hicks
Katherine T. Foster*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Michigan, USA
Brooke J. Arterberry
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Michigan, USA
William G. Iacono
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minnesota, USA
Matt McGue
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minnesota, USA
Brian M. Hicks
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Michigan, USA
*
Author for correspondence: Katherine T. Foster, E-mail: ktfoster@umich.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

In the United States, cannabis accessibility has continued to rise as the perception of its harmfulness has decreased. Only about 30% of regular cannabis users develop cannabis use disorder (CUD), but it is unclear if individuals who use cannabis regularly without ever developing CUD experience notable psychosocial impairment across the lifespan. Therefore, psychosocial functioning was compared across regular cannabis users with or without CUD and a non-user control group during adolescence (age 17; early risk) and young adulthood (ages 18–25; peak CUD prevalence).

Method

Weekly cannabis users with CUD (n = 311), weekly users without CUD (n = 111), and non-users (n = 996) were identified in the Minnesota Twin Family Study. Groups were compared on alcohol and illicit drug use, psychiatric problems, personality, and social functioning at age 17 and from ages 18 to 25. Self-reported cannabis use and problem use were independently verified using co-twin informant report.

Results

In both adolescence and young adulthood, non-CUD users reported significantly higher levels of substance use problems and externalizing behaviors than non-users, but lower levels than CUD users. High agreement between self- and co-twin informant reports confirmed the validity of self-reported cannabis use problems.

Conclusions

Even in the absence of CUD, regular cannabis use was associated with psychosocial impairment in adolescence and young adulthood. However, regular users with CUD endorsed especially high psychiatric comorbidity and psychosocial impairment. The need for early prevention and intervention – regardless of CUD status – was highlighted by the presence of these patterns in adolescence.

Keywords

cannabiscannabis use disorderpsychosocial functioningadolescenceadulthood
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 48 , Issue 11 , August 2018 , pp. 1853 - 1861
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

American Psychiatric Association (1987). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 3rd Edition (DSM-III). Washington, DC, USA: American Psychiatric Association.Google Scholar
American Psychiatric Association (1994). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition (DSM-IV). Washington, DC, USA: American Psychiatric Association.Google Scholar
American Psychiatric Association (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5), Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 4th edition TR. Washington, DC, USA: American Psychiatric Association.Google Scholar
Banerjee, M, Capozzoli, M, Mcsweeney, L and Slnha, D (1999). Beyond kappa: a review of interrater agreement measures. The Canadian Journal of Statistics 27, 3–23.Google Scholar
Bemmels, HR, Burt, SA, Legrand, LN, Iacono, WG and McGue, M (2008). The heritability of life events: an adolescent twin and adoption study. Twin Research and Human Genetics: The Official Journal of the International Society for Twin Studies 11, 257–265.Google Scholar
Budney, A and Moore, B (2002). Development and consequences of cannabis dependence. Journal of Clinical Pharmacology 42, 28S–33S.Google Scholar
Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality (2015). Behavioral Health Trends in the United States: Results from the 2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Rockville, MD: Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality.Google Scholar
Chen, K and Kandel, DB (1995). The natural history of drug use from adolescence to the mid-thirties in a general population sample. American Journal of Public Health 85, 41–47.Google Scholar
Compton, WM, Grant, BF, Colliver, JD, Glantz, MD and Stinson, FS (2004). Prevalence of marijuana use disorders in the United States: 1991-1992 and 2001-2002. Journal of the American Medical Association 291, 2114–2121.Google Scholar
Cottler, L, Robins, L and Helzer, J (1989). The reliability of the CIDI-SAM: a comprehensive substance abuse interview. Addiction 84, 801–814.10.1111/j.1360-0443.1989.tb03060.xGoogle Scholar
Elkins, IJ, McGue, M and Iacono, WG (1997). Genetic and environmental influences on parent-son relationships: evidence for increasing genetic influence during adolescence. Developmental Psychology 33, 351–363.10.1037/0012-1649.33.2.351Google Scholar
Fergusson, DM, Boden, JM and Horwood, LJ (2008). The developmental antecedents of illicit drug use: evidence from a 25-year longitudinal study. Drug and Alcohol Dependence 96, 165–177.Google Scholar
Fergusson, DM, Horwood, LJ, Ridder, EM and Beautrais, AL (2005). Subthreshold depression in adolescence and mental health outcomes in adulthood. Archives of General Psychiatry 62, 66.Google Scholar
Gotlib, IH, Lewinsohn, PM and Seeley, JR (1995). Symptoms versus a diagnosis of depression: differences in psychosocial functioning. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 63, 90–100.10.1037/0022-006X.63.1.90Google Scholar
Hall, W and Degenhardt, L (2009). Adverse health effects of non-medical cannabis use. Lancet 374, 1383–1391.10.1016/S0140-6736(09)61037-0Google Scholar
Hamdi, NR and Iacono, WG (2014). Lifetime prevalence and co-morbidity of externalizing disorders and depression in prospective assessment. Psychological Medicine 44, 315–324.10.1017/S0033291713000627Google Scholar
Harrison, L and Hughes, A (1997). The Validity of Self-Reported Drug Use: Improving the Accuracy of Survey Estimate. Rockville, MD: NIH: Washington Publication 97–4147, NIDA Research Monograph no. 167.Google Scholar
Hasin, DS, Kerridge, BT, Saha, TD, Huang, B, Pickering, R, Smith, SM, Jung, J, Zhang, H and Grant, BF (2016). Prevalence and correlates of DSM-5 cannabis use disorder, 2012–2013: findings from the national epidemiologic survey on alcohol and related conditions – III. American Journal of Psychiatry 173, 588–599.Google Scholar
Hasin, DS, Saha, TD, Kerridge, BT, Goldstein, RB, Chou, SP, Zhang, H, Jung, J, Pickering, RP, Ruan, WJ, Smith, SM, Huang, B and Grant, BF (2015). Prevalence of marijuana use disorders in the United States between 2001-2002 and 2012-2013. JAMA Psychiatry 72, 1235.Google Scholar
Heath, AC, Knopik, VS, Madden, PA, Neuman, RJ, Lynskey, MJ and Slutske, WS, Jacob, T and Martin, NG (2003). Accuracy of mothers’ retrospective reports of smoking during pregnancy: comparison with twin sister informant ratings. Twin Research 6, 297–301.Google Scholar
Hicks, BM, DiRago, AC, Iacono, WG and McGue, M (2009a). Gene-environment interplay in internalizing disorders: consistent findings across six environmental risk factors. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines 50, 1309–1317.10.1111/j.1469-7610.2009.02100.xGoogle Scholar
Hicks, BM, South, SC, Dirago, AC, Iacono, WG and McGue, M (2009b). Environmental adversity and increasing genetic risk for externalizing disorders. Archives of General Psychiatry 66, 640–648.Google Scholar
Iacono, WG, Carlson, SR, Taylor, J, Elkins, IJ and McGue, M (1999). Behavioral disinhibition and the development of substance-use disorders: findings from the Minnesota Twin Family Study. Development and Psychopathology 11, 869–900.Google Scholar
Jessor, R (1991). Risk behavior in adolescence: a psychosocial framework for understanding and action. The Journal of Adolescent Health: Official Publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine 12, 597–605.Google Scholar
Jessor, R, Donovan, JE and Costa, FM (1994). Beyond Adolescence: Problem Behaviour and Young Adult Development. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Johnson, W, McGue, M and Iacono, WG (2006). Genetic and environmental influences on academic achievement trajectories during adolescence. Developmental Psychology 42, 514–532.Google Scholar
Johnston, LD, O'Malley, PM, Bachman, JG and Schulenberg, J (2013). Monitoring the future national survey results on drug use, 1975–2005. Volume I: Secondary School Students (NIH Publication No. 06–5883). Bethesda: National Institute on Drug Abuse.Google Scholar
Judd, LL, Rapaport, MH, Paulus, MP and Brown, JL (1994). Subsyndromal symptomatic depression: a new mood disorder?. The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 55 (Suppl), 18–28.Google Scholar
Kendler, KS, Neale, MC, Kessler, RC, Heath, AC and Eaves, LJ (1992). Familial influences on the clinical characteristics of major depression: a twin study. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 86, 371–378.Google Scholar
Keyes, MA, Malone, SM, Elkins, IJ, Legrand, LN, McGue, M and Iacono, WG (2009). The enrichment study of the Minnesota twin family study: increasing the yield of twin families at high risk for externalizing psychopathology. NIH Public Access Twin Research and Human Genetics: The Official Journal of the International Society for Twin Studies 12, 489–501.Google Scholar
Krueger, RF, Hicks, BM, Patrick, CJ, Carlson, SR, Iacono, WG and McGue, M (2002). Etiologic connections among substance dependence, antisocial behavior and personality: modeling the externalizing spectrum. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 111, 411–424.10.1037/0021-843X.111.3.411Google Scholar
Levine, A, Clemenza, K, Rynn, M and Lieberman, J (2017). Evidence for the risks and consequences of adolescent cannabis exposure. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 56, 214–225.Google Scholar
Looby, A and Earleywine, M (2007). Negative consequences associated with dependence in daily cannabis users. Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy 2, 3.Google Scholar
McGee, R, Williams, S, Poulton, R and Moffitt, T (2000). A longitudinal study of cannabis use and mental health from adolescence to early adulthood. Addiction 95, 491–503.Google Scholar
Meier, MH, Caspi, A, Ambler, A, Harrington, H, Houts, R, Keefe, RSE, McDonald, K, Ward, A, Poulton, R and Moffitt, TE (2012). Persistent cannabis users show neuropsychological decline from childhood to midlife. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 109, E2657–E2664.Google Scholar
Meruelo, AD, Castro, N, Cota, CI and Tapert, SF (2017). Cannabis and alcohol use, and the developing brain. Behavioural Brain Research 325A, 44–50.Google Scholar
Pearson, K (1900). Mathematical contributions to the theory of evolution. VII. On the correlation of characters not quantitatively measurable. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences Journal 195, 262–273.Google Scholar
Pincus, HA, Davis, WW and McQueen, LE (1999). ‘Subthreshold’ mental disorders. A review and synthesis of studies on minor depression and other ‘brand names’. The British Journal of Psychiatry: The Journal of Mental Science 174, 288–296.Google Scholar
Poulton, RG, Brooke, M, Moffitt, TE, Stanton, WR and Silva, PA (1997). Prevalence and correlates of cannabis use and dependence in young New Zealanders. The New Zealand Medical Journal 110, 68–70.Google Scholar
Robins, L, Wing, J, Wittchen, H, Helzer, J, Babor, T, Burke, J, Farmer, A, Jablenski, A, Pickens, R, Regier, D, Sartorius, N and Towle, L (1988). The composite international diagnostic interview – an epidemiologic instrument suitable for use in conjunction with different diagnostic systems and in different cultures. Archives of General Psychiatry 45, 1069–1077.10.1001/archpsyc.1988.01800360017003Google Scholar
Silins, E, Fergusson, DM, Patton, GC, Horwood, LJ, Olsson, CA, Hutchinson, DM, Degenhardt, L, Tait, RJ, Borschmann, R, Coffey, C, Toumbourou, JW, Najman, JM, Mattick, RP and Cannabis Cohorts Research Consortium (2015). Adolescent substance use and educational attainment: an integrative data analysis comparing cannabis and alcohol from three Australasian cohorts. Drug and Alcohol Dependence 156, 90–96.Google Scholar
Stinson, F, Ruan, W, Pickering, R and Grant, B (2006). Cannabis use disorders in the USA: prevalence, correlates and co-morbidity. Psychological Medicine 36, 1447.10.1017/S0033291706008361Google Scholar
Suerken, CK, Reboussin, BA, Egan, KL, Sutfin, EL, Wagoner, KG, Spangler, J and Wolfson, M (2016). Marijuana use trajectories and academic outcomes among college students. Drug and Alcohol Dependence 162, 137–145.Google Scholar
Tellegen, A and Waller, N (2008). Exploring personality through test construction: development of the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire. In Boyle, G, Matthews, G and Saklofske, D (eds). Handbook of Personality Theory and Testing: Vol. II. Personality Measurement and Assessment. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, pp. 261–292.Google Scholar
Uebersax, J (2015). The tetrachoric and polychoric correlation coefficients. Statistical Methods for Rater Agreement, Web, (Accessed 16 February 2017).Google Scholar
van der Pol, P, Liebregts, N, de Graaf, R, ten Have, M, Korf, DJ, van den Brink, W and van Laar, M (2013). Mental health differences between frequent cannabis users with and without dependence and the general population. Addiction 108, 1459–1469.Google Scholar
Volkow, ND, Baler, RD, Compton, WM and Weiss, SRB (2014). Adverse health effects of marijuana use. The New England Journal of Medicine 370, 2219–2227.Google Scholar
Wagner, FA and Anthony, JC (2002). From first drug use to drug dependence; developmental periods of risk for dependence upon marijuana, cocaine, and alcohol. Neuropsychopharmacology 26, 479–488.10.1016/S0893-133X(01)00367-0Google Scholar
Walden, B, McGue, M, Lacono, WG, Burt, SA and Elkins, I (2004). Identifying shared environmental contributions to early substance use: the respective roles of peers and parents. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 113, 440–450.10.1037/0021-843X.113.3.440Google Scholar
Welner, Z, Reich, W, Herjanic, B, Jung, KG and Amado, H (1987). Reliability, validity, and parent-child agreement studies of the Diagnostic Interview for Children and Adolescents (DICA). Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 26, 649–653.10.1097/00004583-198709000-00007Google Scholar