Cannabis use in the United States continues to grow in popularity for a litany of reasons related to decriminalization and accessibility measures. The effects of cannabis are more clearly delineated than the underlying motivations behind use patterns in adults. Potential reported motivations have included sleep latency improvement, relaxation, social consumption, etc. Anxiety is often cited as both a motivation and byproduct of cannabis use, creating a muddy relationship between the substance and this specific psychopathology. When attempting to mitigate use, protective behavioral strategies have been suggested as a promising evidence-based technique. This study investigates the relationship between cannabis use, social anxiety, and protective behavioral strategies in a population of college students.
The study’s sample was composed of 102 undergraduate students from a large southern university in the United States who were at least 18 years old and reported prior month cannabis use (n=102, 80.4% female, 91.2% Latinx). Participant complete online surveys which assessed the following measures: social anxiety (via the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale), cannabis protective behavioral strategy use (via the Protective Behavioral Strategies for Marijuana Scale), cannabis problems (via the Brief Marijuana Consequences Questionnaire), and cannabis use frequency (via Timeline Follow-back). The data was analyzed using general correlations, conditional path modelling for indirect effects, and bias-corrected bootstrapping.
The first primary result found social anxiety to be associated with decreased protective behavioral strategy use, and increased experiences of cannabis problems (not significant for cannabis use). Increased protective behavioral strategy use was associated with decreased cannabis use and problems. Protective behavioral strategy underutilization was found to mediate the relationship (via indirect effects) between social anxiety and cannabis problems, cannabis use frequency, and cannabis use quantity.
Takeaway: social anxiety may put place undergraduate students at greater risk for problematic cannabis use. Interventions designed to treat cannabis use in students may benefit from also targeting anxiety in their care plans.