Measuring Impaired Control over Cannabis Use: Initial Evaluation of the Impaired Control Scale-Cannabis (ICS-C)

Abstract

Background: Impaired control is a central concept in addiction. Impaired control over alcohol has been associated with heavy drinking and alcohol-related problems in young adults, but there is less research on impaired control over cannabis. Currently, there is no validated self-report instrument that comprehensively assesses impaired control over cannabis use. This study examined the factor structure, reliability, and validity of a new measure, the Impaired Control Scale-Cannabis (ICS-C), which was adapted from the widely used Impaired Control Scale (ICS) for alcohol. Method: The sample consisted of students at two Canadian universities who reported past-month cannabis use (N = 362; 63% women; 66% White, mean age = 19.91). Participants completed an online survey including the ICS-C and ICS, along with measures of cannabis use, cannabis problems, alcohol use, impulsivity, and self-regulation. Results: After trimming problematic and redundant items, the final exploratory factor analysis of the ICS-C items yielded two factors: Attempted Control (attempts to control cannabis use) and Failed Control (unsuccessful attempts to limit cannabis use). High correlations between the ICS-C subscales and the Impaired Control subscale of the Marijuana Consequences Questionnaire provided evidence for convergent validity. Support for concurrent and discriminant validity was observed in the associations of the ICS-C subscales with cannabis use, cannabis problems, impulsivity, self-regulation, alcohol use, and the alcohol ICS. Conclusions: The ICS-C is a promising tool for assessing impaired control over cannabis in young adults. Future research should further validate the ICS-C and examine its potential clinical utility for identifying individuals at risk for cannabis use disorder.

Keywords:

• Cannabis
• marijuana
• impaired control
• addiction
• young adults
• college students
• cannabis problems
• measurement
• factor analysis

Declaration of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.