Associations between marijuana use and anxious mood lability during adolescence

To date, research investigating the association between adolescent marijuana use and anxiety is mixed, given differences in how anxiety is measured and the age ranges studied. The research is further limited as many relevant studies have small sample sizes. This investigation examines the association between marijuana use (use in the past 30 days) and anxious mood lability (rapid fluctuation in emotional states) during early adolescence (average age 14.4, spring of 8th grade) through midadolescence (10th grade).

Participating adolescents (N = 466; 52.8% female) were from rural and suburban communities and 38% were Hispanic/Latino. Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) was used to measure adolescents' anxious mood in real time; the EMAs were collected within 30 days of the adolescent report of their marijuana use.

Multilevel models with measurement waves (7 time points) nested in individuals showed that anxious mood lability was significantly higher for adolescents reporting recent marijuana use compared to those reporting no recent marijuana use. Although females were higher than males in anxious mood lability, the association between anxious mood lability and recent marijuana use did not differ by gender. Post hoc analysis showed that the associations between anxious mood lability and recent marijuana use did not differ between assessments conducted pre and post legalization of adult recreational marijuana use.

The association between recent marijuana use and anxious mood lability for youth is important for understanding the developmental processes of cannabis use and anxious mood disorders in adolescence and young adulthood.