Trajectories of marijuana use from late childhood to late adolescence: Can Temperament × Experience interactions discriminate different trajectories of marijuana use?

Abstract

Informed by developmental ecological and epigenetic theory the current study examined three aims concerning adolescent marijuana use with a large community sample (N = 755; gender = 53% female) and six annual assessments that spanned 11–18 years of age. First, the natural history of adolescent marijuana use was modeled using a two-part latent growth curve analysis. Second, the validity of the mixtures was examined with a broad array of known correlates of adolescent marijuana use. Third, temperament (e.g., surgency, effortful control, and negative affect) was tested as individual differences that would enter into statistical interactions with peer SU and prior alcohol and cigarette use to distinguish trajectories of marijuana use. Results suggested that escalations in marijuana use were observed for some youth who initiated marijuana use early in adolescence. Youth whose marijuana use did escalate substantially (10%) were distinguished on temperament, conduct disorder, peer delinquency, and pubertal development at baseline. Furthermore, hypothesized interactions between surgency and both peer SU and prior SU discriminated different patterns of marijuana use. Findings are discussed with respect to strategies for timing and content of preventive interventions.

Dysregulation as a correlate of cannabis use and problem use

“…Low levels of sensitivity to reward were associated with cannabis use, but not problems. The direction of this effect was in opposition to our hypotheses and to the few studies that have tested the association between reward sensitivity and cannabis use in college student and adolescent samples (e.g., Emery & Simons, 2017;Papinczak et al, 2018;Scalco & Colder, 2017). The direction of this effect is also inconsistent with previous findings testing the association between reward sensitivity and alcohol involvement (for meta-analytic review see Stautz & Cooper, 2013), but consistent with tobacco research implicating low reward sensitivity as a risk factor for smoking (Audrain-McGovern et al, 2012).…”

“…There is evidence that hypersensitivity to reward may be a risk factor for cannabis involvement. Increased cannabis involvement has been shown to be associated with hypersensitivity to reward (Emery & Simons, 2017;Papinczak, Connor, Harnett, & Gullo, 2018;Scalco & Colder, 2017;Simons & Arens, 2007), and Franken and Muris (2006) have shown that sensitivity to reward positively predicts a composite illicit drug use score that predominantly consisted of cannabis use.…”

Acute and long-term effects of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol on object recognition and anxiety-like activity are age- and strain-dependent in mice

“…Cause-and-effect of cannabinoid use on these constructs cannot be determined in humans, thereby necessitating the use of preclinical models to observe the parameters of these deficits and inform clinical studies. Although marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug, use is relatively infrequent when compared to legal drugs (Azofeifa et al, 2016), with the heaviest young adolescent users report use that averages about once per week (Scalco & Colder, 2016). Bioavailability of THC in humans is widely inconsistent, even when the dose and parameters of administration are tightly controlled (Huestis, 2005).…”

“…THC or vehicle was delivered via intraperitoneal injection in a volume of 0.1 ml per 10 g of body weight. Although previous studies finding object memory deficits employed a twice/day injection paradigm (Realini et al, 2011; Zamberletti et al, 2010), even the heaviest adolescent users do not use cannabinoids on a daily basis (Scalco & Colder, 2016). Therefore, we chose to administer injections every 72 hrs.…”

Trajectories of cannabis use and risk for opioid misuse in a young adult urban cohort

“…In the present study, we seek to identify trajectories of cannabis use from ages 14-26 in a sample of primarily low-income, urban-dwelling Blacks and examine their impact on opioid misuse in young adulthood (ages 19-26). We focus on trajectories because there is likely a great deal of heterogeneity in longitudinal patterns of cannabis use that may reflect different etiologic pathways and different susceptibilities to opioid misuse (Ellickson et al, 2004;Kelly & Vuolo, 2018;Lee et al, 2018;Scalco & Colder, 2017). Because individuals are embedded within social contexts, an examination of socioecological factors is necessary to understand etiological pathways associated with cannabis use over time.…”