Aberrant Salience among Young Healthy Postgraduate University Students: The Role of Cannabis Use, Psychotic-Like Experiences, and Personality.
Andrea Patti, Gabriele Santarelli, Giulio D'Anna, Andrea Ballerini, Valdo Ricca
Psychopathology 2022 DOI: 10.1159/000520331 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Cross-sectional study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 106 |
| Population | Postgraduate university students |
| Topics | Cannabis |
| Keywords | Aberrant salience Personality Psychotic-like experiences Schizotypy |
| Citations | 3 |
| Key findings | Cannabis users had higher aberrant salience scores than nonusers, and the factors associated with aberrant salience differed between groups: personality traits were more important among nonusers, while positive psychotic-like experiences were more important among cannabis users. |
Abstract
Aberrant salience (AS) is an anomalous world experience which plays a major role in psychotic proneness. In the general population, a deployment of this construct - encompassing personality traits, psychotic-like symptoms, and cannabis use - could prove useful to outline the relative importance of these factors. For this purpose, 106 postgraduate university students filled the AS Inventory (ASI), the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences (CAPE), the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI), and the Symptom Checklist 90-Revised (SCL-90-R). Lifetime cannabis users (n = 56) and individuals who did not use cannabis (n = 50) were compared. The role of cannabis use and psychometric indexes on ASI total scores was tested in different subgroups (overall sample, cannabis users, and nonusers). The present study confirmed that cannabis users presented higher ASI scores. The deployment of AS proved to involve positive symptom frequency (assessed through CAPE), character dimensions of self-directedness and self-transcendence (TCI subscales), and cannabis use. Among nonusers, the role of personality traits (assessed through the TCI) was preeminent, whereas positive psychotic-like experiences (measured by means of CAPE) had a major weight among cannabis users. The present study suggests that pre-reflexive anomalous world experiences such as AS are intertwined with reflexive self-consciousness, personality traits, current subclinical psychotic symptoms, and cannabis use. In the present study, subthreshold psychotic experiences proved to play a major role among cannabis users, whereas personality appeared to be more relevant among nonusers.
Comparable studies
Other cross-sectional and survey studies on cannabis, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cannabis use before age 15 and subsequent executive functioning 104 chronic cannabis users (49 early-onset before age 15, 55 late-onset after age 15)... | 2011 | Observational cross-sectional study | n = 148 |
| Patterns of simultaneous polysubstance use in drug using university students Drug-using university students | 2006 | Cross-sectional survey | n = 149 |
| Persisting Reductions in Cannabis, Opioid, and Stimulant Misuse After Naturalistic Psychedelic Use: An Online Survey Online survey respondents | 2020 | Cross-sectional survey | |
| User perceptions of the benefits and harms of hallucinogenic drug use: A web-based questionnaire study Users of hallucinogenic drugs who completed a web-based questionnaire | 2010 | Cross-sectional survey | n = 600 |
| Illicit Use of LSD or Psilocybin, but not MDMA or Nonpsychedelic Drugs, is Associated with Mystical Experiences in a Dose-Dependent Manner Adults recruited from the MAPS website and newsletter, most reporting use of various... | 2012 | Cross-sectional survey | n = 337 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 3
- Alexithymia and psychopathological dimensions in First-Episode Psychosis: Comparative patterns in natural cannabis versus synthetic cannabinoid users Journal of Psychiatric Research June 19, 2025
- Cannabis use and psychotic-like experiences: A systematic review of biological vulnerability, potency effects, and clinical trajectories. Psychiatry Research April 1, 2025
- Aberrant salience in cannabis-induced psychosis: a comparative study Frontiers in Psychiatry January 8, 2024
Cites 4
- Psychosis as a state of aberrant salience: a framework linking biology, phenomenology, and pharmacology in schizophrenia. American Journal of Psychiatry 2003
- Continued cannabis use and risk of incidence and persistence of psychotic symptoms: 10 year follow-up cohort study BMJ March 1, 2011
- The effects of cannabis use on salience attribution: a systematic review. Acta Neuropsychiatrica February 2018
- Association Between Cannabis and Psychosis: Epidemiologic Evidence. Biological Psychiatry April 1, 2016