Multiple motives for cannabis use: identifying common motive combinations and exploring differences across...

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Cannabis Research
• Addiction Science

Background:

• Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) studies link multiple cannabis use motives to heavier use and negative outcomes.
• Previous research has not fully clarified if specific motive combinations have unique associations with cannabis use outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether specific combinations of cannabis use motives are differentially associated with cannabis use outcomes.
• To determine if these associations exist independently of the total number of motives endorsed.

Main Methods:

• Utilized EMA data from 571 young adult female cannabis users.
• Conducted a multilevel latent class analysis to identify motive combinations.
• Compared findings to analyses based on the count of endorsed motives.

Main Results:

• Endorsing more motives correlated with heavier cannabis use and more consequences.
• Identified six distinct classes (combinations) of multiple motives.
• Found that motive classes with the same number of motives showed different use patterns; e.g., 'coping, social, enhancement' linked to heavier use than 'coping, enhancement, medical'.
• One class ('coping and medical') was associated with lighter use and fewer consequences compared to other two-motive classes.

Conclusions:

• Specific combinations of cannabis use motives are associated with distinct cannabis use outcomes.
• These motive combinations offer additional predictive value beyond simply counting the number of motives endorsed.