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Cannabis Use, Age of Initiation, and Neurocognitive Performance: Findings from a Large Sample of Heavy Drinking Emerging Adults

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 July 2021

Melissa Parlar ,
Emily MacKillop ,
Tashia Petker ,
James Murphy  and
James MacKillop Open the ORCID record for James MacKillop [Opens in a new window]
Melissa Parlar
Affiliation:
Clinical Neuropsychology Service, St. Joseph’s Healthcare, Hamilton, Ontario, L8N 3K7, Canada Peter Boris Centre for Addictions Research, St. Joseph’s Healthcare, Hamilton, Ontario, L8N 3K7, Canada Department of Psychology, York University, Toronto, Ontario, M3J 1P3, Canada
Emily MacKillop
Affiliation:
Clinical Neuropsychology Service, St. Joseph’s Healthcare, Hamilton, Ontario, L8N 3K7, Canada Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, L8S 4L8, Canada
Tashia Petker
Affiliation:
Peter Boris Centre for Addictions Research, St. Joseph’s Healthcare, Hamilton, Ontario, L8N 3K7, Canada Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, L8S 4L8, Canada
James Murphy
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee, 38152, USA
James MacKillop*
Affiliation:
Peter Boris Centre for Addictions Research, St. Joseph’s Healthcare, Hamilton, Ontario, L8N 3K7, Canada Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, L8S 4L8, Canada Michael G. DeGroote Centre for Medicinal Cannabis Research, St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton and McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, L8N 3K7, Canada Homewood Research Institute, Guelph, Ontario, N1E 6K9, Canada
*
*Correspondence and reprint requests to: Dr. James MacKillop, Peter Boris Centre for Addictions Research, St. Joseph’s Healthcare, 100 West 5th Street, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Fax: +1 905-575-6085x39492. E-mail: jmackill@mcmaster.ca
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Abstract

Objective:

To evaluate the associations between cannabis use and neurocognitive functioning, including self-reported attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms, in a large sample of emerging adults (ages 21–25) using a cross-sectional design. A secondary objective was to examine age of cannabis initiation as a moderator.

Methods:

Participants were high-risk drinking emerging adults (n = 598) reporting past-month cannabis use in the following categories: 1) non-users (i.e., never or not in the past month; n = 276), 2) occasional users (i.e., monthly or weekly users; n = 201), and 3) daily users (n = 121). Categorical comparisons were conducted on working memory, attention, behavioral inhibition, delay and probability discounting, verbal intelligence, and ADHD symptoms. Complementary dimensional analyses examined cannabis severity in relation to neurocognition using regressions. Covariates were age, race, sex, income, years of education, tobacco use, and alcohol use.

Results:

Frequency of cannabis use was significantly associated with poorer working memory performance, more impulsive delay discounting, and greater endorsement of ADHD symptoms, but not other domains. Effect sizes were small and poorer performance was selectively present among daily, not occasional, cannabis users. Earlier age of initiation was not independently or interactively associated with neurocognitive performance.

Conclusions:

Daily cannabis use was selectively adversely associated with aspects of memory, impulsivity, and subjective attentional functioning, but most cognitive indicators were not implicated, and evidence of amplification by earlier age of initiation was not observed. Ascertaining causal versus consequential roles of cannabis in neurocognitive functioning is an important priority.

Keywords

CannabisMarijuanaMemoryCognitionImpulsivityAttention deficit/hyperactivityDisorderAge of first use
Type
Regular Research
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 27 , Special Issue 6: Clarifying the Complexities of Cannabis and Cognition , July 2021 , pp. 533 - 545
Copyright
Copyright © INS. Published by Cambridge University Press, 2021

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