Use and abuse of causal language in non-experimental studies on cannabis use and the development of psychosis

The “Why” in Mental Health, Stigma, and Addictive Behaviors: Causal Inferences in Applied Settings

“…In applied areas where experimentation is not feasible or ethical, correlational studies are used to accumulate scientific knowledge from evidence. However, inadequate causal inferences from correlational data appear in various fields, such as nursing [8], epidemiology [9], and nutrition [10]; in substance abuse treatment [11] and antidepressant treatments [7]; or in the effect of cannabis on the development of psychosis [12]. In these studies, authors often publish conclusions using causal language in the absence of experimental methodology.…”