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Original Articles

Marijuana Motivations Across Adolescence: Impacts on Use and Consequences

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Pages 292-301 | Published online: 14 Nov 2014
 

Abstract

Background. Motivational models for marijuana use have focused on reasons to use marijuana, but rarely consider motives to abstain. Objectives: We examined how both adolescent marijuana abstinence motives and use motives contribute to marijuana use and problems at the end of emerging adulthood. Methods. 434 community recruited youth who had not initiated marijuana use at baseline were followed from adolescence (at ages 12, 15, and 18 years) into emerging adulthood (age 25 years). Motives to abstain and to use marijuana, marijuana consumption, and marijuana-related problems were assessed across time. Results. Endorsing more motives to abstain from marijuana across adolescence predicted less marijuana use in emerging adulthood and fewer marijuana-related problems when controlling for past motives to abstain and marijuana-related behavior. Positive reinforcement use motives related to increased marijuana consumption and problems, and negative reinforcement motives predicted problems when controlling for past marijuana use motives and behaviors. Expansion motives during adolescence related to lower marijuana use in emerging adulthood. When considered together, motives to abstain buffered the effect of negative reinforcement motives on outcomes at age 25 for youth endorsing a greater number of abstinence motives. Conclusions/ Implications. Given these findings, inclusion of both motives to use and abstain is warranted within comprehensive models of marijuana use decision making and may provide important markers for prevention and intervention specialists.

THE AUTHORS

Kristen G. Anderson, Ph.D., is the Principal Investigator of the Adolescent Health Research Program and Associate Professor and Chair of Psychology at Reed College. Her area of expertise is the developmental psychopathology of addictive behaviors from late childhood through emerging adulthood. Dr. Anderson has specialized in the development of cognitive assessments of youth substance use decision-making, longitudinal modeling of process-oriented data, and the integration of personality and social-cognitive models of substance use initiation and maintenance.

Miranda Sitney, B.A., graduated from Reed College in 2012 with a degree in psychology. She is currently a research assistant for the Mind Research Network in Madison, Wisconsin. Her current projects involve identifying protective and risk factors for youths with callous and unemotional traits in juvenile detention settings. She is planning to attend graduate school in Clinical Psychology in the upcoming year.

Helene R. White, Ph.D., is a Distinguished Professor at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey with a joint appointment at the Center of Alcohol Studies and in the Sociology Department. Her research focuses on the etiology, development, and consequences of substance use and comorbid problem behaviors in both community and high-risk samples. In addition, she is engaged in research on the development and evaluation of substance use prevention programs for college students.

GLOSSARY

  • Conformity motives: reasons to use alcohol or other drugs based upon the desire to use to fit in with a social group or to avoid social rejection.

  • Coping motives: reasons to use alcohol or other drugs that identify pain relief and stress reduction as the primary reasons for use.

  • Enhancement motives: reason to use alcohol or other drugs based on a desire to feel “high.”

  • Expansion motives: reasons to use related to the specific psychedelic properties of marijuana, exemplified by the broadening of experiential awareness.

  • Marijuana-related motivations: reasons to use or abstain from marijuana use

  • Negative reinforcement motives: a set of motivations related to decreasing negative experiences, specifically coping or conformity reasons.

  • Positive reinforcement motives: a set of motivations related to increasing positive experiences, specifically enhancement and social motivations.

  • Social motivations: reasons to use alcohol or other drugs associated with facilitating group interactions.

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