Age, sex and personality in early cannabis use

Abstract

Previous studies analysing personality and cannabis use in adult samples suggest that cannabis users show significant higher levels of impulsivity, sensation seeking and schizotypy. However, there are few studies exploring this relationship in adolescence using psychobiological models of personality. Given the relevance of identifying individual differences that lead adolescents to early cannabis use to prevent future health problems, the present study aimed to explore the relationship between age, sex, personality and early cannabis use using a psychobiological model of personality in a sample of 415 students (51.8% boys) from 12 to 18 years. Chi(2) tests showed significant higher prevalence of cannabis use in boys and in the group aged 15-18 years. Multiple analysis of variance showed significant higher scores in psychoticism, sensation seeking and in all its subscales in cannabis users group, while an interaction with age was found for extraversion and neuroticism: cannabis users scored higher than non-users in the youngest group (12-14 years) but lower in the oldest group in both dimensions. Finally, regression analysis showed that narrower traits of sensation seeking (experience seeking and disinhibition) were the most associated to early cannabis use. Results are discussed in terms of early cannabis users' personality profiles and in terms of the self-medication theory.

Associations of personality traits with marijuana use in a nationally representative sample of adolescents in the United States

“…Impulsivity and aggression were significantly associated with marijuana use. Our findings are similar to those of previous studies in non-representative samples that assessed lifetime use ( Malmberg et al, 2012 ), past 12-month use ( Muro & Rodríguez, 2015 ), and past 30-day use ( Kong et al, 2013 ). We also found neuroticism was not associated with frequency of marijuana use and that the association of neuroticism with lifetime use was not as robust as those of impulsivity and aggression with lifetime use.…”

“…We used multinomial logistic regression to calculate relative risk ratios in examining associations between the five personality scales and frequency of use. We adjusted for age, race/ethnicity, gender, and parent education, as these variables were associated with substance use in previous studies ( Dierker et al, 2012 ; Keyes et al, 2015 ; Muro & Rodríguez, 2015 ). To examine gender as a potential moderator, we created terms to represent the interaction between each personality scale and gender and entered these interaction terms into our regression models.…”

“…A recent meta-analysis identified conscientiousness, agreeableness, and neuroticism as key correlates of adult substance use ( Kotov, Gamez, Schmidt, & Watson, 2010 ). Findings from cross-sectional and prospective studies with non-nationally representative samples of adolescents suggest that disinhibition-related personality traits such as conscientiousness and agreeableness are strongly associated with marijuana use ( Flory, Lynam, Milich, Leukefeld, & Clayton, 2002 ; Kong et al, 2013 ; Malmberg et al, 2012 ; Muro & Rodríguez, 2015 ; VanderVeen, Hershberger, & Cyders, 2016 ). Assessing personality traits and their relationships with marijuana use in a nationally representative adolescent sample is a key next step in solidifying the evidence regarding these associations, which in turn guide intervention efforts.…”

The Modulating Role of Sex and Anabolic-Androgenic Steroid Hormones in Cannabinoid Sensitivity

“…Yet, numerous social and environmental factors (e.g., age of cannabis use initiation, peer drug use, availability of drugs, low socio-economic status, experience of childhood sexual abuse, cigarette smoking or alcohol drinking during early adolescence) and the presence of pre/comorbid psychopathology (e.g., mood disorders, ADHD, psychosis) are thought to enhance the risk of transitioning from initiation of cannabis use to CUD (reviewed in Courtney et al, 2017 ). Personality/biological traits, such as impulsivity, schizotypy and sensation-seeking, are also positively correlated with the initiation of cannabis use in adolescents and young adults ( Haug et al, 2014 ; Muro and Rodríguez, 2015 ).…”

Personalidad internalizante y externalizante y efectos subjetivos en una muestra de adolescentes consumidores de cánnabis

“…Una edad de inicio de consumo precoz se relaciona con un mayor riesgo de consumo problemático (Martínez-Lorca y Alonso-Sanz, 2003), un uso posterior de otras drogas ilícitas (Swift et al, 2012), con la presencia de alteraciones cerebrales (DuPont y Lieberman, 2014; Jacobus y Tapert, 2014), del procesamiento cognitivo (Alameda-Bailén, Salguero-Alcañiz, Merchán-Clavellino, y Paíno-Quesada, 2014; Becker, Wagner, Gouzoulis-Mayfrank, Spuentrup, y Daumann, 2010; Grant, Chamberlain, Schreiber, y Odlaug, 2012) y de la función motora (Hall y Degenhardt, 2009), con la exacerbación de sintomatología psicopatológica en la edad adulta (Arias et al, 2013;Chen et al, 2011;Cuenca-Royo, Torrens, Sánchez-Niubó, Suelves, y Domingo-salvany, 2013;Muro i Rodríguez, 2015;Rubino, Zamberletti, y Parolaro, 2012) y con una mayor probabilidad de fracaso escolar (Volkow, Baler, Compton, y Weiss, 2014).…”