Passion for Marijuana Use Mediates the Relations between Refusal Self-Efficacy and Marijuana Use and Associated Consequences

ABSTRACT

Marijuana (MJ) refusal self-efficacy and obsessive/harmonious passion for MJ use are associated with use and related consequences but have not been examined simultaneously. We examined the relation among obsessive/harmonious passion for MJ use, refusal self-efficacy, frequency of use, and related consequences in an online community sample (n = 524; mean age = 23.78; 87.5% male). A path analysis revealed that, while controlling for the relationship between MJ use and consequences, lower refusal self-efficacy was related to greater obsessive passion and to greater harmonious passion, and was associated with more consequences but not with MJ use. Greater obsessive passion was associated with greater MJ use frequency and consequences, and greater harmonious passion was related to greater MJ use frequency and fewer consequences. Obsessive passion mediated the relation between lower refusal self-efficacy and greater MJ use and more consequences, and harmonious passion mediated the relation between lower refusal self-efficacy and consequences. Passion mediates the relationships between refusal self-efficacy and MJ use and consequences, with obsessive passion being the stronger mediator. Passion could be a relevant target in interventions aimed at changing a person’s MJ use.

KEYWORDS:

• Passion
• marijuana
• obsessive
• harmonious
• self-efficacy

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

Dr. Arterberry was supported by a National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism T32 postdoctoral training grant (#AA007477) and Dr. Davis was supported by a National Institute on Drug Abuse postdoctoral training grant (#DA007209). The funding sources had no role in the design/execution of this study or the interpretation or communication of findings.