Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 25, 2025

Brain Morphology of Cannabis Users With or Without Psychosis: A Pilot MRI Study
Published on: August 18, 2020
Cognitions mediate the influence of personality on adolescent cannabis use initiation
Maya A Pilin1, Jill M Robinson1, Katie Young1
1Psychology Department, University of British Columbia, 1147 Research Road, Kelowna, BC V1V 1V7, Canada.
Aims:
Much research indicates that an individual's personality impacts the initiation and escalation of substance use and problems in youth. The acquired-preparedness model suggests that personality influences substance use by modifying learning about substances, which then affects substance use. The current study used longitudinal data to test whether automatic cannabis-related cognitions (memory associations and outcome expectancy liking) mediate the relationship between four personality traits with later cannabis use.
Methods:
The study focused on initiation of use in a sample of adolescents who had not previously used (n = 670).
Results:
A structural equation model supported a full mediation effect and the hypothesis that personality affects cannabis use in youth by influencing automatic memory associations and outcome expectancy liking. Further findings from the same model also indicated a mediation effect of these cognitions in the relationship between age and cannabis use.
Conclusion:
The findings of the study support the acquired-preparedness model where personality influences automatic associations in the context of dual-processing theories of substance use.
Related Concept Videos
Social Cognitive Perspective on Personality
Cognitive Development During Adolescence
Influence of Parents and Peers on Identity
Parental Influence on Identity Development
Parents serve as primary guides and managers in an adolescent's life, offering support instrumental in decision-making and personal growth....
The Influence of Cognition on Affect
Self-Presentation: Self-Monitoring and Self-Handicapping
Revisionist Views of Adolescent and Adult Cognition

