CANNABIS-RELATED NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES AS MOTIVATORS OF CHANGE IN CANNABIS USE

Abstract

ABSTRACT CANNABIS-RELATED NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES AS MOTIVATORS OF CHANGE IN CANNABIS USE Prior literature has shown that the association between cannabis use and cannabis-related negative consequences is small to moderate (Pearson, 2019), which may be due in part to limitations in how consequences are measured. Existing measures may fail to capture relevant, cannabis-specific consequences, and no prior studies have examined how individual consequences relate to motivation to change cannabis use. Importantly, cannabis-related negative consequences may be uniquely associated with use, both in the extent to which increased use predicts specific consequences and in the extent to which those consequences motivate individuals to change their use. Focusing on how specific consequences motivate change may provide clinical utility and help clarify the association between cannabis use and consequences, which may appear attenuated when examined using aggregate measures. The present study aimed to develop a comprehensive inventory of cannabis-related negative consequences, evaluate a measure assessing the extent to which individual consequences motivate change, and examine how specific consequences are associated with cannabis use frequency. Results indicated that 28 additional cannabis-related negative consequences were identified beyond those included in the Marijuana Consequences Questionnaire (MAC-Q). The motivational consequences scale demonstrated acceptable convergent validity through significant associations with SOCRATES subscales. Several newly identified consequences increased the extent to which the MAC-Q predicted cannabis use frequency. Findings further indicated that consequences vary in the extent to which they motivate change, with some consequences being significantly more motivational than others. At the individual level, certain highly motivational consequences were negatively associated with cannabis use frequency, while others were positively associated or not significantly related, suggesting that consequences function heterogeneously. Overall, these findings highlight the importance of examining specific consequences rather than aggregate scores and suggest that the relationship between cannabis use and consequences is more complex than previously understood.