Adolescent Cannabis Expectancies Are Associated With Parental Drug Use History Via Negative Urgency

Cannabis is the most commonly used illicit drug among U.S. adolescents. Cannabis expectancies, beliefs about the likely effects of cannabis use, often emerge before initiation and predict later use. Parental history of drug use problems is a well-established risk factor that may shape adolescents'cannabis expectancies, but the socioemotional mechanisms remain unclear. We tested whether negative urgency, rash action during intense negative emotion, mediates this association and whether behavioral inhibition, characterized by threat sensitivity and cautious responding, buffers this pathway.

Data were drawn from three waves of the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study (N = 9,478; First time point (T1), M_age = 10.1 years; 47.8% female). We tested a longitudinal moderated mediation model and applied the False Discovery Rate (FDR) correction to both the indirect and conditional indirect effects.

Parental history of drug use problems predicted higher negative urgency at T5 (β = .058, p < .001, 95% CI [.026, .089]). Negative urgency predicted greater cannabis positive expectancies (β = .148, p < .001, 95% CI [.078, .218]) and lower negative expectancies (β = -.19, p < .001, 95% CI [-.276, -.107]). Behavioral inhibition moderated both pathways (β = -.040, p < .05, 95% CI [-.065, -.015]); (β = .033, p < .05, 95% CI [.016, .077]). Conditional indirect effects were statistically significant at low levels of behavioral inhibition and attenuated as behavioral inhibition increased. All effects remained significant after FDR correction.

Negative urgency may help explain how parental drug use history shapes adolescents'cannabis expectancies, whereas behavioral inhibition may reduce vulnerability along this pathway. These findings identify socioemotional processes that may contribute to early intergenerational risk for cannabis use.