Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
ARTICLESCannabis and Anxiety and Depression in Young Adults: A Large Prospective Study
Section snippets
Participants
The data we used were taken from the 21-year Mater University Study of Pregnancy (MUSP; Najman et al., 2005). After piloting, it was clear that the cost and effort required to recruit privately insured patients were prohibitive (many obstetricians at varied sites). Consequently, privately insured pregnant women (39%) and emergencies transferred to this specialist obstetric service were excluded and 8,556 consecutive patients (at an average of 18 weeks of gestation) were invited to participate
RESULTS
Overall, 3,239 young adults provided information about age at onset and frequency of use of cannabis and about AD. Some 49.0% had used cannabis, comprising 36.8% who reported use of cannabis once in the past month or no use in the past month (occasional users) and 12.2% who had used cannabis at least every few days in the past month (frequent users). Age at initiation to use of cannabis ranged between 7 and 21 years (mean 15.8, SD 1.9 years). Of 1,586 participants who had ever used cannabis,
DISCUSSION
Using data from a birth cohort study, we examined three models of association between use of cannabis and AD. We found that the association between cannabis and AD is not explained by measured individual and social factors at baseline. Furthermore, symptoms of AD in early adolescence do not appear to predict a child's use of cannabis. However, age at onset and frequency of use of cannabis (both reported at 21 years) are significantly associated with symptoms of AD in young adults; MUSP
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The core study was funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, but the views expressed in the article are those of the authors and not necessarily those of any funding body. The authors thank the Mater University Study of Pregnancy (MUSP) participants, MUSP Research Team, Rosemary Aird, and the rest of the MUSP21 data collection team; MUSP Data Manager Greg Shuttlewood; the Mater Misericordiae Hospital; and the Schools of Social Science, Population Health, and Medicine at The University of Queensland for their support.
Disclosure: Professor Jamrozik is a principal investigator in a separate study for which vitamin tablets are provided by Blackmore's. The other authors have no financial relationships to disclose.