Motivations for Cannabis Use in Emerging Adulthood

Emerging adults (ages 18-29) have the highest rates of cannabis use and associated consequences relative to other age groups. Cannabis motives (i.e., reasons for using cannabis) are one of the most established predictors of cannabis outcomes, however, the literature is limited in the following ways: (1) there has been no knowledge synthesis conducted on the increasing number of studies, (2) very limited research has evaluated personality risk factors which play a key role in understanding individual differences in motivations for cannabis use, and (3) majority of studies are cross-sectional. The proposed dissertation consists of three studies that focus on addressing these gaps. Study one is a scoping review that summarizes existing studies looking at cannabis motives among emerging adults and their connection to cannabis-related outcomes. The scoping review identified 45 studies and highlighted coping and enhancement motives as the most relevant among this age group for their connection to cannabis outcomes. Study two examined cannabis motives as a mediator in the relationship between two personality risk factors (i.e., anxiety sensitivity, sensation seeking) and cannabis consequences. Findings from this study uncovered two motives that explain the relationship between these personality factors and consequences – coping motives (e.g., to relieve low mood) influenced the relationship between anxiety sensitivity and consequences, and altered perception motives (e.g., to think differently) influenced the relationship between sensation seeking and consequences. Study three used ecological momentary assessment to capture cannabis motives and consequences over time, and tested whether anxiety sensitivity and sensation seeking might moderate this relationship. Analyses revealed that anxiety sensitivity moderated the relationship between social anxiety motives and consequences, and sensation seeking moderated the relationship between enjoyment motives and consequences as well as between altered perception motives and consequences. This study highlights anxiety sensitivity and sensation seeking as important predictors of problematic cannabis consequences over time at the momentary level, especially when endorsing negative reinforcement or positive reinforcement motives (respectively). Overall, these studies will serve to support prevention efforts and treatment protocols for emerging adults who are the most vulnerable to the harms associated with problematic cannabis use.

Department dc:contributor.department

Applied Psychology and Human Development

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Shifrin, Alexandra

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Goldstein, Abby L

• cannabis
• cannabis consequences
• cannabis motives
• emerging adulthood
• substance use
• young adult

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1807/149942

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:utoronto.scholaris.ca:1807/149942