Elevated Stress Reactivity: A Barrier to Cannabis Use Change Behavior

Rates of cannabis use have continued to grow alongside state legalization in the United States. Many cannabis users continue to use regularly despite adverse consequences, making it important to understand potential barriers to change. Elevated stress reactivity is commonly associated with substance misuse, including cannabis, as substances may serve as a coping method to mitigate anxiety-related symptoms. The current study explored the relationship between reactivity to a laboratory stress induction and fluctuation in motivation to change cannabis use over a three-month period in regular cannabis users.

102 cannabis users (78.4% white) attended a baseline lab visit during which motivation to change cannabis use and subjective as well as physiological reactivity to a laboratory stress induction were measured. Motivation to change cannabis use was measured again at a three-month follow-up in a 68-participant subsample.

Larger skin conductance response (p = 0.003) and heart rate reactivity (p = 0.004) to the stressor, but not heart rate variability, salivary cortisol, or subjective stress reactivity, predicted greater reduction in motivation to change cannabis use at follow-up.

These finds suggest that elevated sympathetic stress reactivity may serve as a barrier to cannabis change behavior.