Who is at risk? Core mental health symptoms and problematic cannabis use in Germany

Cannabis is one of the most used psychoactive substances worldwide. This study presents nationally representative data on core mental health symptoms and other characteristics among individuals in Germany who used cannabis in the past 12 months, stratified into those with and without problematic cannabis use.

Data were drawn from the 10th wave (2021) of the Epidemiological Survey of Substance Abuse, a cross-sectional survey of adults aged 18-64 years living in private households in Germany. The analytic sample included 1,004 past-year cannabis users. Problematic cannabis use was assessed using the Severity of Dependence Scale with sex-specific cut-offs (≥ 2 for women, ≥ 4 for men). Core mental health symptoms were measured with the DIA-X-Core Screening Questionnaire and categorized into 0, 1-3, or ≥ 4 symptoms. Analyses were weighted to match the German population. Descriptive comparisons between individuals with and without problematic use employed χ²-tests. Multivariable logistic regression models examined associations between problematic use and cumulative symptom scores, adjusting for covariates. P-values were corrected using the Simes-Benjamini-Hochberg procedure.

Among individuals with past-year cannabis use, 25.0% met criteria for problematic use. Compared with those without problematic use, these individuals were more likely to have a low educational level (27.2% vs. 10.8%), use cannabis weekly or almost daily (66.8% vs. 14.8%), begin use before age 15 (40.8% vs. 19.1%), currently use tobacco (73.1% vs. 49.7%), and report problematic amphetamine- (10.5% vs. 2.2%) and tobacco use (23.8% vs.14.0%). They were less likely to report no core mental health symptoms (12.7% vs. 25.3%) and more likely to report ≥ 4 symptoms (40.8% vs. 27.2%). Adjusted models showed that reporting ≥ 4 symptoms was positively associated with problematic use (aOR = 1.68; 95% CI [1.12-2.53]; p=.027), whereas having no symptoms was associated negatively (aOR = 0.41; 95% CI [0.23-0.73]; p=.006).

Amid changing cannabis laws in Germany, this study identifies risk factors for problematic use and highlights that core mental health symptoms are associated with problematic cannabis use. The findings underscore the importance of early screening and targeted prevention strategies.