Study links adolescent cannabis use with psychosis
Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly November 8, 2024 DOI: 10.1002/adaw.34321 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Cohort study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 11,868 |
| Population | Adolescents |
| Duration | 4-year follow-up |
| Topics | Cannabis |
| Keywords | Psychosis |
| Key findings | Adolescents who used cannabis reported more psychosis symptoms and distress than those who never used, consistent with the self-medication hypothesis. |
Abstract
A cohort study of 11,868 adolescents found that those who used cannabis at any point reported a greater number of psychosis symptoms, and more distress from those symptoms, compared to teens who never used cannabis. This study, “Psychosis Spectrum Symptoms Before and After Adolescent Cannabis Use Initiation,” published last week in JAMA Psychiatry, sought to answer the question of whether the cannabis use is an effort to self‐medicate underlying psychosis, or contributes to increased vulnerability to psychosis. Findings were consistent with the self‐medication hypothesis. The researchers concluded that it is important to account for both shared vulnerability, and self‐medication effects, when modeling cannabis‐psychosis risk associations. The study used data from 5 waves across 4 years of followup from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study.
Comparable studies
Other observational and cohort studies on cannabis, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| High-potency cannabis and the risk of psychosis People with first episode of psychosis and healthy controls from the local population | 2009 | Case-control study | n = 454 |
| Ayahuasca-Assisted Therapy for Addiction: Results from a Preliminary Observational Study in Canada Rural aboriginal population | 2013 | Observational study | |
| Impaired cognitive performance in drug free users of recreational ecstasy (MDMA) Otherwise healthy young people | 2000 | Observational | |
| Continued cannabis use and risk of incidence and persistence of psychotic symptoms: 10 year follow-up cohort study Individuals from the general population in Germany aged 14-24 at baseline | 2011 | Observational cohort | n = 1,923 |
| Cannabis-induced psychosis and subsequent schizophrenia-spectrum disorders: follow-up study of 535 incident cases Patients treated for cannabis-induced psychotic symptoms in Denmark between 1994 and... | 2005 | Observational cohort | n = 535 |