Sex differences in Cannabis use disorder and associated psychosocial problems among US adults, 2012-2013

While men show greater prevalence of cannabis use disorder (CUD) than women, whether cannabis use frequency drives this difference is unknown, and little is known about sex differences in problems associated with CUD. We therefore assessed the association of CUD with sex, adjusted for frequency of use, and compared the association of psychosocial and health-related problems with CUD between men and women. We included US adults age ≥ 18 who reported past-year cannabis use in the 2012-2013 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions-III (n = 3701). Cannabis use frequency, DSM-5 CUD and problems (interpersonal, financial, legal, health-related) were assessed. Associations between psychosocial problems, sex and DSM-5 CUD were assessed using prevalence differences (PD) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) from logistic regression models, controlling for demographics and cannabis use frequency, and effect modification by sex was assessed. We found that the prevalence of CUD among men versus women was not significantly greater after adjusting for use frequency. Women had significantly higher prevalence of interpersonal, financial and health-related problems than men, adjusting for frequency of use. Women showed significantly greater association of CUD with interpersonal problems with a boss or co-workers (p < 0.05) and a neighbor, relative or friend (p < 0.05) compared to men. Lack of sex differences in CUD after adjusting for frequency of use suggests use frequency may be an important target of CUD prevention efforts. CUD showed stronger associations for interpersonal problems among women than men, suggesting the need for particular emphasis on treating interpersonal problems related to cannabis use among women.