The current study examined the relationship between money attitudes, impulsivity, locus of control, life satisfaction, and stress and credit‐card debt in 227 college students. Students reported an average credit‐card debt of $ 1,518, with over 75% of students holding at least one credit card. Students with credit cards from on‐campus solicitation had higher debt‐to‐income ratios than did those with credit cards from other sources. Personality variables were generally unrelated to level of debt, although they were related to attitudes toward money. Many students requested information about credit and debt, suggesting that knowledge of financial issues may be an important variable for future consideration.

Brief interventions are increasingly being used to help young adults to moderate their cannabis use. We conducted a randomized clinical trial of a brief (4 weekly sessions), in-person intervention that included a smartphone application that reinforced the use of protective behavioral strategies (PBSs) to lessen cannabis use. Young adults (N ϭ 37; 24 men) who regularly used cannabis were randomized to 2 intervention conditions rooted in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and motivational enhancement therapy (MET). Along with learning CBT ϩ MET strategies, participants in 1 of the conditions were instructed to engage in exercise. All participants used smartphone-based ecological momentary assessment to provide episode-level reports about use of cannabis and PBSs. Two multilevel structural equation models were run to test the study hypotheses that (a) cannabis use would be reduced over the course of the 6-month study, (b) reductions would be moderated by intervention condition, and (c) episode-level PBS use would predict episode-level cannabis use. Participants reduced their cannabis use by approximately 1 half of a standard joint per time point. The MET ϩ CBT ϩ Exercise condition reduced cannabis use to a greater degree than did the MET ϩ CBT condition. With episode-level PBS use in the model, reductions in cannabis use were independent of intervention condition. Our findings suggest that young adults will engage with a smartphone app that serves as a component of an in-person intervention to moderate their cannabis use. Intervention content that promotes the use of PBSs and exercise facilitates reductions in cannabis use.

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