Does cannabis use predict psychometric schizotypy via aberrant salience?
Colm O’Tuathaigh, Christopher Dawes, Andrea Bickerdike, Eileen Duggan, Cian O’Neill, John L. Waddington, Paula M. Moran
Schizophrenia Research April 6, 2020 DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2020.03.021 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Cross-sectional survey Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 910 |
| Population | University students |
| Measures | Cannabis Experience Questionnaire modified version (CEQmv), Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ), Community Assessment of Psychic Experience (CAPE), Aberrant Salience Inventory (ASI) |
| Topics | Cannabis |
| Keywords | Schizotypy Schizotypal personality disorder Clinical psychology Psychosis Population Mediation Salience neuroscience Prodrome Developmental psychology |
| Citations | 13 |
| Key findings | Cannabis use was associated with increased psychometric schizotypy and aberrant salience. Aberrant salience mediated the relationship between cannabis use and selected positive and disorganized schizotypal subscale scores, including odd beliefs and ideas of reference, suggesting a mechanistic pathway. |
Abstract
Cannabis can induce acute psychotic symptoms in healthy individuals and exacerbate pre-existing psychotic symptoms in patients with schizophrenia. Inappropriate salience allocation is hypothesised to be central to the association between dopamine dysregulation and psychotic symptoms. This study examined whether cannabis use is associated with self-reported salience dysfunction and schizotypal symptoms in a non-clinical population. 910 University students completed the following questionnaire battery: the cannabis experience questionnaire modified version (CEQmv); schizotypal personality questionnaire (SPQ); community assessment of psychic experience (CAPE); aberrant salience inventory (ASI). Mediation analysis was used to test whether aberrant salience mediated the relationship between cannabis use and schizotypal traits. Both frequent cannabis consumption during the previous year and ASI score predicted variation across selected positive and disorganised SPQ subscales. However, for the SPQ subscales 'ideas of reference' and 'odd beliefs', mediation analysis revealed that with the addition of ASI score as a mediating variable, current cannabis use no longer predicted scores on these subscales. Similarly, cannabis use frequency predicted higher total SPQ as well as specific Positive and Disorganised subscale scores, but ASI score as a mediating variable removed the significant predictive relationship between frequent cannabis use and 'odd beliefs', 'ideas of reference', 'unusual perceptual experiences', 'odd speech', and total SPQ scores. In summary, cannabis use was associated with increased psychometric schizotypy and aberrant salience. Using self-report measures in a non-clinical population, the cannabis-related increase in selected positive and disorganised SPQ subscale scores was shown to be, at least in part, mediated by disturbance in salience processing mechanisms.
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 8
- LSD, madness and healing: Mystical experiences as possible link between psychosis model and therapy model. Psychological Medicine March 1, 2023
- Association between formal thought disorder and cannabis use: a systematic review and meta-analysis Schizophrenia September 29, 2022
- Mindfulness enhancements predict aberrant salience reductions and improve stress management. Discover Mental Health April 8, 2025
- Cannabis Use, Schizotypy and Kamin Blocking Performance Frontiers in Psychiatry November 23, 2021
- DMT, Madness, and Healing: Psychosis Model, Therapy Model, and Their Relations to Mystical Experiences and Positive Emotionality Research Square May 20, 2026
and 3 more in the library
Cites 10
- Psychosis as a state of aberrant salience: a framework linking biology, phenomenology, and pharmacology in schizophrenia. American Journal of Psychiatry 2003
- High-potency cannabis and the risk of psychosis The British Journal of Psychiatry November 30, 2009
- Modulation of Mediotemporal and Ventrostriatal Function in Humans by Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol Archives of General Psychiatry April 1, 2009
- The effects of cannabis use on salience attribution: a systematic review. Acta Neuropsychiatrica February 2018
- Salience attribution and its relationship to cannabis-induced psychotic symptoms. Psychological Medicine December 2016
and 5 more in the library