Marijuana use from adolescence to adulthood: developmental trajectories and their outcomes

• Published in: Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology Vol. 51; no. 10; pp. 1405 - 1415
• Main Authors: Brook, Judith S., Zhang, Chenshu, Leukefeld, Carl G., Brook, David W.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01-10-2016; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adolescence; Adolescent; Adult; Adults; Alcohol; Alcohol-Related Disorders - epidemiology; Alcohol-Related Disorders - psychology; Alcoholism; Behavior; Cannabis; Child development; Epidemiology; Female; Human Development; Humans; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Marijuana; Marijuana Abuse - classification; Marijuana Abuse - epidemiology; Marijuana Abuse - psychology; Marijuana Smoking - epidemiology; Marijuana Smoking - psychology; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Middle age; New York - epidemiology; Nicotine; Original Paper; Psychiatry; Tobacco Use Disorder - epidemiology; Tobacco Use Disorder - psychology; Young Adult; New York; United States > US; Trajectories of marijuana use; Unconventional behavior; Not having children living at home; Alcohol dependence/abuse; Spouse/partner marijuana use; Emotional dysregulation; Sensation seeking; Nicotine dependence
• ISSN: 0933-7954; 1433-9285
• DOI: 10.1007/s00127-016-1229-0

Background
The study assesses the degree to which individuals in different trajectories of marijuana use are similar or different in terms of unconventional behavior, sensation seeking, emotional dysregulation, nicotine dependence, alcohol dependence/abuse, children living at home, and spouse/partner marijuana use at age 43.
Method
This study used a longitudinal design. The sample participants (
N
 = 548) were first studied at mean age 14 and last studied at mean age 43.
Results
Six trajectories of marijuana use were identified: chronic/heavy users (3.6 %), increasing users (5.1 %), chronic/occasional users (20 %), decreasers (14.3 %), quitters (22.5 %), and nonusers/experimenters (34.5 %). With three exceptions, as compared with being a nonuser/experimenter, a higher probability of belonging to the chronic/heavy, the increasing, or the chronic/occasional user trajectory group was significantly associated with a greater likelihood of unconventional behavior, sensation seeking, emotional dysregulation, nicotine dependence, alcohol dependence/abuse, not having children who lived at home, and having a spouse/partner who used marijuana at early midlife. In addition, compared with being a quitter, a higher probability of belonging to the chronic/heavy user trajectory group was significantly associated with a higher likelihood of unconventional behavior, sensation seeking, emotional dysregulation, alcohol dependence/abuse, and spouse/partner marijuana use. Implications for intervention are presented.
Conclusions
Trajectories of marijuana use, especially chronic/heavy use, increasing use, and chronic/occasional use, are associated with unconventional behavior, sensation seeking, emotional dysregulation, nicotine dependence, alcohol dependence/abuse, having children who lived at home, and spouse/partner marijuana use at age 43. The importance of the findings for prevention and treatment programs are discussed.