According to recent studies, cannabis is one of the most used illicit substances in the United States, and as it becomes legalized, it is being used more. Use rates have been growing among all ages for decades. Most young adults report that they believe, for the most part, using cannabis is harmless, but college students tend to face some of the most damaging consequences associated with cannabis use. The goal of this study is to “examine the differences in effort-related decision-making processes between cannabis users and control participants in a sample of college students after controlling for relevant covariates.”
This study consisted of a total of 47 college students; 25 students were cannabis-using, and 22 were non-cannabis-using. All participants were ages 18-25 and had English fluency. Participants were excluded from the study if they self-reported a history of depression, psychotic disorder, and alcohol or substance use disorder (other than cannabis) or treatment. Alcohol and Cannabis Use were measured in this study by having the participants report the total number of days that they used either substance in the past month. Effort-Related Decision Making (EEfRT), Effort Discounting, ADHD, Distress tolerance, and delay discounting were all measured.
In this study, college students who were using more cannabis were more likely to select the high-effort choice option. There was not a significant difference between cannabis use groups. Still, the study did suggest an association between cannabis use and greater high effort choices, which does not agree with some preexisting literature. The study suggests that could be due to their small sample size. More research is needed to explore further how cannabis use impacts effort-related decision-making.
Takeaway: In this study college students who were using more cannabis were more likely to select the high-effort choice option which does not support existing literature, this is suggested to be due to the small sample size.