Center for Children and Families, Florida International University, Department of Psychology, 11200 SW 8th Street, AHC1 RM. 140, Miami, FL 33199, United States.
Center for Children and Families, Florida International University, Department of Psychology, 11200 SW 8th Street, AHC1 RM. 140, Miami, FL 33199, United States.
Addict Behav. 2018 Mar;78:107-113. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2017.11.005. Epub 2017 Nov 4.
Associations between anxiety symptoms and cannabis use have been previously explored, yet the directionality of these associations remains highly debatable. The present study aims to prospectively examine patterns of cannabis use and anxiety during adolescence focusing on their co-development and bidirectional influences.
Adolescents (n=250) of predominantly Hispanic ethnicity, aged 14-17 at baseline, exposed to drugs, alcohol, or cigarettes completed three (bi-annual) assessments across a 1-year period. Latent growth curve modeling (LGCM) and parallel process growth curves were conducted to examine potential associations in the joint development of anxiety and cannabis use.
Our results suggest that, during adolescence, early cannabis use has a greater influence on prospective reports of anxiety, than vice versa. Specifically, adolescents exhibiting higher initial levels of cannabis use displayed more persisting self-reported anxiety across time, as compared to those with less frequent use (b=0.28, p=0.024). In contrast, early levels of anxiety were not found to influence rates of change in cannabis use. These analyses considered concurrent depression, alcohol, and nicotine use.
Our findings suggest that prevention and targeted intervention programs for cannabis use in adolescence would benefit from anxiety management strategies; in order to reduce subsequent anxiety associated with cannabis use. Future studies should continue to employ longitudinal designs across larger time periods and aim to replicate these findings with more diverse samples.
先前已经探讨了焦虑症状与大麻使用之间的关联，但这些关联的方向性仍存在很大争议。本研究旨在前瞻性地研究青少年时期大麻使用和焦虑的模式，重点关注它们的共同发展和双向影响。
本研究纳入了主要为西班牙裔的青少年（n=250），在基线时年龄为 14-17 岁，接触过毒品、酒精或香烟，在 1 年内完成了 3 次（每半年 1 次）评估。采用潜在增长曲线模型（LGCM）和并行过程增长曲线对焦虑和大麻使用的共同发展进行潜在关联的分析。
我们的研究结果表明，在青少年时期，早期大麻使用对前瞻性焦虑报告的影响大于焦虑对大麻使用的影响。具体而言，与使用频率较低的青少年相比，早期大麻使用水平较高的青少年在整个时间内表现出更持续的自我报告焦虑（b=0.28，p=0.024）。相反，早期的焦虑水平并没有发现会影响大麻使用的变化率。这些分析考虑了同时存在的抑郁、酒精和尼古丁使用情况。
我们的研究结果表明，针对青少年大麻使用的预防和靶向干预计划将受益于焦虑管理策略，以减少与大麻使用相关的后续焦虑。未来的研究应继续采用跨更大时间段的纵向设计，并旨在通过更多样化的样本复制这些发现。
