Why get high? Coping and enjoyment motives mediate elevated cannabis demand and cannabis-related outcomes

Abstract

Objective: Cannabis is the most used psychoactive substance among adolescents and is a public health concern. Cannabis demand is a quantifiable measure of the reinforcing value of cannabis and comprises two latent-factors-amplitude (maximum consumption) and persistence (sensitivity to increasing costs). Cannabis demand and cannabis motives are important predictors of adolescent cannabis use and associated problems; however, little is known about how these two facets of motivation are causally related. Cannabis motives are thought to represent the final common pathway to cannabis use and may explain why elevated demand is associated with use and consequences. The present study tested whether internal cannabis motives (coping and enjoyment) mediated longitudinal associations between cannabis demand, use (hours high), and negative consequences.

Method: Participants aged 15-18 years old (n = 89, M_age = 17.0, SD = 0.9) who reported lifetime cannabis use completed online assessments of cannabis demand, motives, use and negative consequences at baseline, 3-month, and 6-month follow-up.

Results: PROCESS mediation models revealed that enjoyment motives mediated the association between amplitude and persistence and use. In addition, coping motives mediated the association between amplitude and negative consequences.

Conclusions: These findings suggest that internal motives, while differentially related to aspects of demand and cannabis outcomes, are important in understanding adolescent cannabis use. Prevention efforts aimed at limiting access to cannabis and increasing access to substance-free activities may be important targets for adolescents. Further, cannabis interventions targeting specific motives for using (e.g., to cope with negative affect) may be important for reducing cannabis demand. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Figure 1.

Amplitude on use mediator model^a. Notes: Paths a, b, and c’ are OLS regression coefficients. Path c’ represents the effect of x on y when M is included as a mediator. Path c represents the effect of x on y when M is not included as a mediator. ^aThis model is not controlling for use at baseline since a change model was not desired for this analysis. ^bp=.0566 significance; c-path trending significant without mediators in the model. Solid lines indicate significant paths, dashed lines indicate non-significant paths. Dotted/dashed line indicates c-path is significant, but c’-prime path is not significant. R² in model notes direct variance among study variables, all were significant; total variance not significant; Total R² = .04, p=.056

Figure 2.

Amplitude on consequence mediator model. Notes: Paths a, b, and c’ are OLS regression coefficients. Path c’ represents the effect of x on y when M is included as a mediator. Path c represents the effect of x on y when M is not included as a mediator. Solid lines indicate significant paths, dashed lines indicate non-significant paths. R² in model notes direct variance among study variables, all were significant; Total R² = .15, p< .001.

Figure 3.

Persistence on use mediator model^a. Notes: Paths a, b,and c’ are OLS regression coefficients. Path c’ represents the effect of x on y when M is included as a mediator. ^aThis model is not controlling for use at baseline since a change model was not desired for this analysis. Path c represents the effect of x on y when M is not included as a mediator. Solid lines indicate significant paths, dashed lines indicate non-significant paths. Dotted/dashed line means c-path is significant, but c’-prime path is not significant. R² in model notes direct variance among study variables, coping R² was not significant, p=.26, others were significant; Total R² = .08, p<.01

Figure 4.

Persistence on consequences mediator model. Notes: Paths a, b,and c’ are OLS regression coefficients. Path c’ represents the effect of x on y when M is included as a mediator. Path c represents the effect of x on y when M is not included as a mediator. ^aPersistence on consequences significant with bootstrapping, BootCI (.26, 4.97). ^bEnjoyment on consequences significant with bootstrapping, BootCI (.16, 4.75). Solid lines indicate significant paths, dashed lines indicate non-significant paths. R² in model notes direct variance among study variables, all were significant; Total R² = .20, p<.001.