Temporal Association of Cannabis Use with Symptoms in Individuals at Clinical High Risk for Psychosis
C. Corcoran, D. Kimhy, Arielle D. Stanford, Shamir A. Khan, J. Walsh, Judy L. Thompson, S. Schobel, J. Harkavy-Friedman, R. Goetz, T. Colibazzi, V. Cressman, D. Malaspina
Schizophrenia Research September 21, 2008 DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2008.08.008 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cohort Longitudinal Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 32 |
| Population | Clinical high risk cases meeting research criteria for prodromal psychosis |
| Duration | Up to 2 years |
| Topics | Cannabis |
| Key findings | In clinical high risk cases, periods of increased cannabis use were associated with significantly more perceptual disturbances and worse functioning, independent of other substance use, suggesting cannabis may exacerbate sub-threshold psychotic symptoms. |
Abstract
Background: Cannabis use is reported to increase the risk for psychosis, but no prospective study has longitudinally examined drug use and symptoms concurrently in clinical high risk cases.
Method: We prospectively followed for up to 2 years 32 cases who met research criteria for prodromal psychosis to examine the relationship between substance use and clinical measures.
Results: Cases with a baseline history of cannabis use (41%) were older, but did not differ in clinical measures. Longitudinal assessments showed these cases had significantly more perceptual disturbances and worse functioning during epochs of increased cannabis use that were unexplained by concurrent use of other drugs or medications.
Conclusions: These data demonstrate that cannabis use may be a risk factor for the exacerbation of sub-threshold psychotic symptoms, specifically perceptual disturbances, in high risk cases.