Cannabis use, time perspective and risk perception: Evidence of a moderating effect†

†This is a revised version of a poster communication presented at the 18th Annual Conference of the European Health Psychology Society, University of Helsinki (Finland) in June 2004.

Abstract

This study explores the relationship between time perspective (TP), cannabis use and risk perceptions associated with this substance. A sample of French students (n = 198) were provided with a valid French version of the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI) scale. Risk perceptions linked to cannabis consumption were evaluated from a list of 22 items referring to different risks. Respondents were asked to declare how frequently they consumed this substance. Data analysis was based firstly on ZTPI scores, secondly on declared consumption and finally on the two risk perception indices which were established after factorial analysis. Results showed that TP acted as a significant predictor of both psychoactive substance use and of cannabis consumption frequency. Significant links between consumption and risk perceptions also appeared. A second series of analyses showed that TP moderated the link between cannabis consumption and risk perceptions. These findings highlight the importance of TP when analyzing the complexity of contemporary cannabis use.

†This is a revised version of a poster communication presented at the 18th Annual Conference of the European Health Psychology Society, University of Helsinki (Finland) in June 2004.

Keywords:

• Cannabis use
• time perspective
• ZTPI
• risk perception
• young French adults

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the reviewers, as well as Olivier Desrichard and Patrick Scharnitzky for their useful suggestions regarding earlier versions of this article.

Notes

†This is a revised version of a poster communication presented at the 18th Annual Conference of the European Health Psychology Society, University of Helsinki (Finland) in June 2004.

Notes

[1] In the French validation, two items of the original scale were removed (items 15 and 36) and three items were categorized differently (items 24, 37, and 52) (For details, see Apostolidis & Fieulaine, 2004).

[2] The measures of the several levels of use were defined in the questionnaire as follow: abstinent, (to have never smoked cannabis); experimental, (to have smoked cannabis but not during the last 12 months); occasional, (to have smoked cannabis less than 10 times during the last 12 months); repeated, (to have smoked cannabis less than 10 times during the last 30 days); regular, (to have smoked cannabis more than 10 times during the last 30 days); intensive, (to have smoked cannabis at least once per day).

[3] Test of significance of the R ² increment (▵R ²) is provided by the F test: F = [()/(k ₂ − k ₁)]/[(1 − )/(n − k ₂ − 1)]; where DL are (k ₂ − k ₁) and (n − k ₂ − 1), n = total sample size; k ₂ = number of predictors at step 2, k ₁ = number of predictors at step 1; and  = explained variance for the first and the second model (Cohen & Cohen, 1983).