Cannabis Use, Psychotic Like Experiences and Aberrant Salience in a Sample of Belgian Students

Abstract

The main goal of our study was to investigate the association between psychotic-like experiences, aberrant salience, and cannabis use in a nonclinical sample of Belgian students. The participants were asked to complete a self-report questionnaire on cannabis use. The Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences and the Aberrant Salience Inventory were used to assess psychotic-like experiences and aberrant salience. The final sample was of 257 students. Cannabis users showed significantly higher Aberrant Salience Inventory score and, concerning the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences, higher total, positive, and negative dimension scores. Years of cannabis use and frequency of use showed a positive correlation with Aberrant Salience Inventory score. Our results support the evidence that cannabis use is associated with an increased rate of psychotic experiences in individuals without a clinical form of psychosis. Future studies are required to better investigate the meaning of the association between cannabis use, psychotic-like experiences, and aberrant salience.

Terminology and assessment tools of psychosis: A systematic narrative review

“…‘Psychotic‐like experiences’ (PLE) were recognized among the general population, but also as risk factors, predictors, or early symptoms for psychosis . They were often less severe than symptoms of psychotic disorders and transient . They were sometimes described as present in both groups with or without psychotic disorders .…”

“…mild hallucinatory experiences) and delusional thoughts that fall well below DSM‐5 diagnostic criteria of psychosis’, and also listed as ‘hallucinations, delusional beliefs, suspiciousness, strange experiences, and feelings of grandiosity’ . An article defined PLE as ‘qualitatively similar to the symptomatology of psychotic disorders but quantitatively less severe in terms of intensity, frequency, and impairment’, and used the term interchangeably with ‘subclinical psychotic experiences’ . A study which examined youths at risk of developing psychotic disorders defined PLE as ‘attenuated psychotic symptoms below the threshold of frank psychosis’ .…”

“…4 Other definitions include 'delusions and perceptual abnormalities that exist along a phenotypic continuum with psychotic disorders lying on the extreme end' 20 and 'subthreshold expressions of the extended psychosis phenotype'. 38 symptoms of psychotic disorders 44,53 and transient. 7,48,54 They were sometimes described as present in both groups with or without psychotic disorders.…”

“…53 An article defined PLE as 'qualitatively similar to the symptomatology of psychotic disorders but quantitatively less severe in terms of intensity, frequency, and impairment', and used the term interchangeably with 'subclinical psychotic experiences'. 44 A study which examined youths at risk of developing psychotic disorders defined PLE as 'attenuated psychotic symptoms below the threshold of frank psychosis'. 7 They were considered as present during the early stage of developing psychotic disorders, even before the prodromal phase.…”

Cannabis use among early adolescents and transdiagnostic mental health risk factors

“…Regarding the transdiagnostic clinical profile of adolescent cannabis users, increases are observed in prodromal-like symptoms of psychotic symptoms, including hallucinations, paranoia, depression, anxiety, etc. (Bernardini et al, 2018). Sub-clinical psychotic experiences are common in the general population and are usually transient and self-limiting (Kuepper et al, 2011).…”