Alcohol and marijuana use in young adults continues to be a problem across the United States. A 2018 study found that 60% of college students reported alcohol use in the previous month and around 21% reported marijuana use. This study’s goal was to examine different motives for alcohol use and alcohol-marijuana co-users.
Data for this research was taken from Project DECOY (Documenting Experiences with Cigarettes and Other Tobacco in Young adults). The study was 2 years and included 6 waves. The analyses for this study included Wave 5 which had 2,689 participants and Wave 6 which included 2,403 participants. While the full study included many measures, for the intent of this research alcohol and marijuana use behaviors, problem substance use, motives for use, sociodemographic, and psychosocial factors were measured.
1,870 young adults reported past 4-month alcohol use with 64% being female, 92% heterosexual, 69% white, and a mean age of 20.7. Results showed that 15.33 was the average number of days alcohol was consumed in the 4 months. 18.4% reported marijuana use in the previous 4 months with the average days of use being 29.8. Co-users were found to have greater alcohol use motives, being younger, being a sexual minority, being non-White, and having greater depressive symptoms. Alcohol use was correlated with greater marijuana use frequency and Coping and Self-enhancement alcohol use motives. Marijuana use frequency was found to be correlated with greater Coping and Expansion marijuana use motive. These findings provide some insight to who may be at higher risk of co-use along with suggesting interventions should focus on Coping motives for both, Self-enhancement motive for alcohol use, and Expansions motive for marijuana use.
Take Away: Alcohol and marijuana use in young adults continues to be a problem across the United States. This study’s goal was to examine different motives for alcohol use and alcohol-marijuana co-users. Data for this research included using Wave 5 and 6 data from Project DECOY (Documenting Experiences with Cigarettes and Other Tobacco in Young adults). Measures included alcohol and marijuana use behaviors, problem substance use, motives for use, sociodemographic, and psychosocial factors. 1,870 of 2,689 young adults reported past 4-month alcohol use and 18.4% reported marijuana use. Alcohol use was correlated with greater marijuana use frequency and Coping and Self-enhancement alcohol use motives. Marijuana use was correlated with greater Coping and Expansion marijuana use motive. These findings provide insight to who may be at higher risk of co-use along with suggesting interventions should focus on specific motives for each substance.