Cannabis use is a significant public health concern among college students, with sexual minority (SM) individuals—including gay, lesbian, and bisexual students—exhibiting higher rates of cannabis use and cannabis use disorder (CUD) compared to heterosexual peers. Previous research applying the Dualistic Model of Passion (DMP) has identified obsessive passion (OP)—where an activity becomes excessively tied to one’s identity and conflicts with other personality aspects—as particularly relevant to problematic cannabis use, with studies showing that OP correlates with greater cannabis use frequency, more use-related consequences, and lower refusal self-efficacy in general college student and frequent cannabis user populations. However, OP has not been examined specifically among SM college students, representing a critical gap in understanding this vulnerable population. Therefore, the present study aims to examine the dimensional relationships between obsessive passion and future cannabis use, cannabis use-related consequences, refusal self-efficacy, and satisfaction with life among SM college students.
This study used secondary data from a longitudinal cohort study of college students who use cannabis at two Midwestern institutions. Eligible participants were undergraduate students who had used cannabis flower at least four times in the past month. Of these, 142 self-identified as sexual minorities (gay n=15, lesbian n=15, bisexual n=94, pansexual n=13, asexual n=1, other n=4) and were included in the analysis. Baseline measures included demographics, past 30-day cannabis use frequency, and the Cannabis Obsessive Passion Scale. At 10-month follow-up, measures included past 30-day cannabis use frequency, Brief Cannabis Consequences Questionnaire, Modified Cannabis Refusal Self-Efficacy Questionnaire, and Satisfaction with Life Scale. Canonical correlation analysis (CCA) examined dimensional relationships between the independent variate (baseline OP, past 30-day cannabis use, and age) and the dependent variate (10-month outcomes: cannabis use frequency, use-related consequences, refusal self-efficacy, and satisfaction with life).
The findings revealed two distinct patterns of relationships between baseline characteristics and 10-month outcomes, differentiated by levels of obsessive passion (OP). Pattern 1 showed a significant positive canonical correlation between baseline predictors—OP and past 30-day cannabis use—and 10-month outcomes of past 30-day cannabis use, cannabis use-related consequences, and refusal self-efficacy, controlling for age and life satisfaction. Pattern 2 revealed a second significant positive canonical correlation between baseline predictors—OP and past 30-day cannabis use—and 10-month outcomes of past 30-day cannabis use, refusal self-efficacy, and life satisfaction, controlling for age and cannabis use-related consequences. These two patterns indicate that in Pattern 1, higher OP and greater baseline cannabis use were associated with greater cannabis use, more use-related consequences, and lower refusal self-efficacy at follow-up, whereas in Pattern 2, lower OP with similar baseline use was associated with greater cannabis use, higher refusal self-efficacy, and greater life satisfaction at follow-up. These findings suggest that OP level, rather than use frequency alone, may differentially influence cannabis-related outcomes among SM students, representing a potentially modifiable intervention target for this population.
Takeaway: Among sexual minority college students, obsessive passion level differentially predicts cannabis-related outcomes independent of use frequency, suggesting it may serve as a distinct intervention target.