Home > Persistent increased severity of cannabis use disorder symptoms in adolescents compared to adults: a one-year longitudinal study.

Lees, Rachel and Lawn, Will and Petrilli, Kat and Brown, Amelia and Trinci, Katie and Borissova, Anya and Ofori, Shelan and Mokrysz, Claire and Curran, H Valerie and Hines, Lindsey A and Freeman, Tom P (2024) Persistent increased severity of cannabis use disorder symptoms in adolescents compared to adults: a one-year longitudinal study. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience, Early online, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-024-01806-y.

External website: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00406-0...

Adolescence is a developmental period characterised by increased vulnerability to cannabis use disorder (CUD). However, previous investigations of this vulnerability have relied on cross-sectional comparisons and lack a detailed assessment of cannabis quantity, a potentially important confounding factor. Here, we aimed to investigate the one-year course of CUD in adolescents compared to adults who currently use cannabis, adjusting for a comprehensive measure of cannabis quantity. Data are from a one-year observational longitudinal study (CannTeen) of adolescents and adults who currently used cannabis regularly with five waves of assessment at 3-monthly intervals, based in London, UK. Participants were n = 70 adults (26-29, 45.7% female), who did not regularly use cannabis when they were under age 18, and n = 76 adolescents (16-17, 50.0% female). The exposure was adolescent (compared to adult) frequent cannabis use. The primary outcome was CUD symptoms measured using the cannabis use disorder identification test revised (CUDIT-R) at five time points. Models were adjusted for cannabis quantity using mean weekly standard THC units (one unit = 5 mg THC). Other covariates included gender, and whether each session occurred before or during the COVID-19 pandemic. In models adjusted for pre-registered covariates, adolescents scored 3.7 points higher on the CUDIT-R compared to the adult group across the 5 assessment waves (3.66 95% CIs 1.99, 5.34). There was also evidence of a linear reduction in symptoms over time in both groups (-0.47, 95%CIs -0.67, -0.27). Adolescents had persistently increased CUD symptoms compared to adults across the 12-month period. This association was robust after adjusting for the quantity of cannabis consumed and other covariates.


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