Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T10:40:27.332Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Age, sex and personality in early cannabis use

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 April 2020

A. Muro i Rodríguez
Get access

Abstract

Previous studies analysing personality and cannabis use in adult samples suggest that cannabis users show significant higher levels of impulsivity, sensation seeking and schizotypy. However, there are few studies exploring this relationship in adolescence using psychobiological models of personality. Given the relevance of identifying individual differences that lead adolescents to early cannabis use to prevent future health problems, the present study aimed to explore the relationship between age, sex, personality and early cannabis use using a psychobiological model of personality in a sample of 415 students (51.8% boys) from 12 to 18 years. Chi2 tests showed significant higher prevalence of cannabis use in boys and in the group aged 15–18 years. Multiple analysis of variance showed significant higher scores in psychoticism, sensation seeking and in all its subscales in cannabis users group, while an interaction with age was found for extraversion and neuroticism: cannabis users scored higher than non-users in the youngest group (12–14 years) but lower in the oldest group in both dimensions. Finally, regression analysis showed that narrower traits of sensation seeking (experience seeking and disinhibition) were the most associated to early cannabis use. Results are discussed in terms of early cannabis users’ personality profiles and in terms of the self-medication theory.

Keywords

Adolescent psychiatryCannabisPersonality
Type
Original article
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 30 , Issue 4 , June 2015 , pp. 469 - 473
Copyright
Copyright © Elsevier Masson SAS 2015

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

Agrawal, A, Lynskey, MTCandidate genes for cannabis use disorders: findings, challenges and directions. Addiction 2009;104(4):518–532.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Agrawal, A, Lynskey, MT, Bucholz, KK, Kapoor, M, Almasy, L, Dick, DMet al.DSM-5 cannabis use disorder: A phenotypic and genomic perspective. Drug Alcohol Depend 2014;134:362–369.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Anglin, DM, Corcoran, CM, Brown, AS, Chen, H, Lighty, Q, Brook, JSet al.Early cannabis use and schizotypal personality disorder symptoms from adolescence to middle adulthood. Schizophr Res 2012;137(1–3):45–49.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM5), 5th ed. Madrid: Editorial Médica Panamericana, 2014.Google Scholar
Arendt, M, Rosenberg, R, Fjordback, L, Brandholdt, J, Foldager, L, Sher, Let al.Testing the self-medication hypothesis of depression and aggression in cannabis-dependent subjects. Psychol Med 2007;37(7):935–945.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Arseneault, L, Cannon, M, Poulton, R, Murray, R, Caspi, A, Moffitt, TECannabis use in adolescence and risk for adult psychosis: longitudinal prospective study. BMJ 2002;325(7374):1212–1213.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bailey, E, Swallow, BLThe relationship between cannabis use and schizotypal symptoms. Europ Psy 2004;19:113–114.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barkus, EPersonality cannabis use. Adv Schizo Clinical Psy 2008;3(3):84–89.Google Scholar
Casas, MSelf-medication and addictions. In: Adan, A, Vilanou, CSubstance abuse treatment Barcelona: Marge Médica Books; 2011. p. 51–57.Google Scholar
Chabrol, H, Melioli, T, Goutaudier, NAssociation between personality disorders traits and problematic cannabis use in adolescents. Subst Use Misuse 2014. http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/10826084.2014.984851.Google ScholarPubMed
Chapman, JP, Chapman, LJ, Kwapil, TRDoes the Eysenck Psychoticism Scale predict psychosis: a ten-year longitudinal study. Pers Indiv Differ 1994;17(3):369–375.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Claridge, G, McCreery, C, Mason, O, Bentall, R, Boyle, G, Slade, Pet al.The factor structure of ‘schizotypal’ traits: A large replication study. Brit J Clin Psychol 1995;35:103–115.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dumas, P, Saoud, M, Bouafia, S, Gutknecht, C, Ecochard, R, Daléry, Jet al.Cannabis use correlates with schizotypal personality traits in healthy students. Psychiatry Res 2002;109(1):27–35.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
European Monitoring Centre for Drugs, Drug Addiction European Drug Report. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union; 2014.Google Scholar
European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction and Spanish Government Delegation for the Drug National Plan. Problematic cannabis use in Spanish Students from 14 to 18 years old: validation of scales. Madrid: Centro de Publicaciones del Ministerio De Sanidad y Política Social; 2009.Google Scholar
Eysenck, HJ, Eysenck, SBGManual of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (junior & adult). Madrid: TEA Ediciones; 1982.Google Scholar
Fridberg, DJ, Vollmer, JM, O’Donnell, BF, Skosnik, PDCannabis users differ from non-users on measures of personality and schizotypy. Psychiatry Res 2011;186(1):46–52.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gorzalza, BB, Dang, SS Minireview: Endocannabinoids and gonadal hormones: Bidirectional interactions in physiology and behavior. Endocrinology 2012;153(3):1016–1024.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, W, Degenhardt, LAdverse health effects of non-medical cannabis use. Lancet 2009;374(9698):1383–1391.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hecimovic, K, Barrett, SP, Darredeau, C, Stewart, SHCannabis use motives and personality risk factors. Addict Behav 2014;39(3):729–732.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Horwood, LJ, Fergusson, DM, Hayatbakhsh, MR, Najman, JM, Coffey, C, Patton, GCet al.Cannabis use and educational achievement: Findings from three Australasian cohort studies. Drug Alcohol Depend 2010;110(3):247–253.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hurd, YL, Michaelides, M, Miller, ML, Jutras-Aswad, DTrajectory of adolescent cannabis use on addiction vulnerability. Neuropharmacology 2014;76(Pt B):416–424.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Large, M, Sharma, S, Compton, MT, Slade, T, Nielssen, OCannabis use and earlier onset of psychosis: a systematic meta-analysis. Arch Gen Psychiatry 2011;68(6):555–561.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Malmberg, M, Kleinjan, M, Vermulst, AA, Overbeek, G, Monshouwer, K, Lammers, Jet al.Do substance use risk personality dimensions predict the onset of substance use in early adolescence? A variable- and person-centered approach. J Youth Adolesc 2012;41(11):1512–1525.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Moore, T, Zammit, S, Lingford-Hughes, A, Barnes, TR, Jones, PB, Burke, Met al.Cannabis use and risk of psychotic or affective mental health outcomes: a systematic review. Lancet 2007;370(9584):319–328.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Muro, A, Gomà-i-Freixanet, M, Adan, ACircadian typology and sensation seeking in adolescents. Chronobiol Int 2012;29(10):1376–1382.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Patrick, ME, Schulenberg, JE, O’Malley, PM, Johnston, LD, Bachman, JGAdolescents’ reported reasons for alcohol and marijuana use as predictors of substance use and problems in adulthood. J Stud Alcohol Drugs 2011;72(1):106–116.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pérez, J, Ortet, G, Plá, S, Simó, SA junior sensation seeking scale (J-SSS). Pers Indiv Dif 1986;7:915–918.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Romer, D, Betancourt, LM, Brodsky, NL, Giannetta, JM, Yang, W, Hurt, HDoes adolescent risk taking imply weak executive function? A prospective study of relations between working memory performance, impulsivity, and risk taking in early adolescence. Dev Sci 2011;14(5):1119–1133.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sawyer, SM, Afi, RA, Bearinger, LA, Blakemore, SJ, Dick, B, Ezeh, ACet al.Adolescence: a foundation for future Health. Lancet 2012;379:1630–1640.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Valmaggia, LR, Day, FL, Jones, C, Bissoli, S, Pugh, C, Hall, Det al.Cannabis use and transition to psychosis in people at ultra-high risk. Psychol Med 2014;44(12):2503–2512.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zammit, S, Allebeck, P, Andreasson, S, Lundberg, I, Lewis, GSelf reported cannabis use as a risk factor for schizophrenia in Swedish conscripts of 1969: historical cohort study. Br Med J 2002;325:1199–1201.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zuckerman, MBehavioral expressions and biosocial bases of sensation seeking. New York: Cambridge University Press; 1994.Google Scholar
Zuckerman, MPsychobiology of personality. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press; 2005.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zuckerman, M, Eysenck, SBG, Eysenck, HJSensation seeking in England and America: cross-cultural, age, and sex comparisons. J Consult Clin Psychol 1978;46:139–149.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.