Do Cannabis Use Motives Mediate the Relationship between PTSD Symptoms and Cannabis Craving to Trauma Cues?

Cannabis use is common in individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The PTSD-cannabis relationship is important as cannabis use can worsen PTSD outcomes. Cannabis use motives are a useful construct for understanding the PTSD-cannabis relationship. Frequent pairing of a trauma cue with substance use to cope can lead to conditioned substance craving. The extant research has not yet examined potential mechanisms to explain this effect. We recruited 51 cannabis users with a trauma history for a cannabis cue-reactivity study to examine coping motives as a potential mediator of the hypothesized relationship between PTSD symptoms and cannabis craving to trauma cues. Participants first completed a validated cannabis use motives measure. They were then exposed to a personalized audio and visual cue based on their trauma experience and reported on their cannabis craving immediately following using a standardized measure. Coping motives were contrasted with enhancement motives as the mediator. Results supported our first hypothesis: PTSD symptoms were associated with increased cannabis craving following personal trauma cue exposure. However, our second hypothesis of an indirect effect through coping motives was not supported. We did find an independent main effect of coping motives on cannabis craving triggered by trauma cue exposure. The lack of an interaction between PTSD symptoms and coping motives on trauma-cue induced craving is potentially due to other factors we did not examine that help strengthen the relationship (e.g., sleep). These findings have important clinical implications for targeting both PTSD symptoms and coping motives to prevent the development of conditioned cannabis craving to trauma reminders.

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The Interactive Influence of Cannabis-Related Negative Expectancies and Coping Motives on Cannabis Use Behavior and Problems

Substance Use & Misuse ◽

10.1080/10826084.2016.1188947 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 51 (11) ◽

pp. 1504-1511 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Dawn W. Foster ◽

Emily R. Jeffries ◽

Michael J. Zvolensky ◽

Julia D. Buckner

Keyword(s):

Cannabis Use ◽

Coping Motives ◽

Use Behavior ◽

And Coping

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Fitting in and feeling fine: Conformity and coping motives as mediators of the relationship between social anxiety and problematic drinking.

Psychology of Addictive Behaviors ◽

10.1037/0893-164x.22.1.58 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 22 (1) ◽

pp. 58-67 ◽

Cited By ~ 92

Author(s):

Melissa A. Lewis ◽

M. Christina Hove ◽

Ursula Whiteside ◽

Christine M. Lee ◽

Benjamin S. Kirkeby ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Social Anxiety ◽

Problematic Drinking ◽

Coping Motives ◽

Fitting In ◽

And Coping ◽

The Relationship

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The Impact of Depressed Mood and Coping Motives in those with Pre-Menstrual Dysphoric Disorder on Cannabis Use Quantity across the Menstrual Cycle

10.26828/cannabis.2021.01.000.40 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Kayla Joyce ◽

Kara Thompson ◽

Phillip Tibbo ◽

Kimberley Good ◽

Elizabeth O'Leary ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Menstrual Cycle ◽

Depressed Mood ◽

Cannabis Use ◽

Coping Motives ◽

And Coping ◽

The Impact

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Getting High or Getting By? An Examination of Motives, Misuse, and Concurrent Psychopathology in a Sample of General Community Adults

10.31234/osf.io/hu378 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Molly Scarfe ◽

Candice Muir ◽

Karen Rowa ◽

Iris Balodis ◽

James MacKillop

Keyword(s):

Negative Reinforcement ◽

Psychiatric Symptoms ◽

Cannabis Use ◽

Treatment Target ◽

Mediation Analyses ◽

Symptoms Of Depression ◽

Coping Motives ◽

Psychiatric Conditions ◽

The Relationship ◽

General Community

Objective: Research conducted with young adults has consistently identified cannabis use motives as a predictor for cannabis use and problems, but comparatively few studies have examined cannabis motives in adult samples. Furthermore, although substantive evidence has identified links between cannabis use and psychiatric conditions, limited research has examined the intersection of cannabis use, motives, and psychopathology. The present study sought to characterize cannabis use motives in an adult sample and investigate whether those motives would link relationships between cannabis misuse and psychiatric symptoms. Method: Participants (N=395; M age=34.8; %F=47.6; % White = 81.3%) completed assessments related to cannabis misuse, cannabis use motives, and symptoms of depression, anxiety, PTSD, and somatic experiences. Bivariate correlations, hierarchical regressions, and subsequently, mediation analyses were performed to examine associations between motives and cannabis misuse, and to investigate whether particular motives would link the relationship between cannabis misuse and psychiatric symptoms. Results: Analyses revealed statistically significant, unique associations between cannabis misuse and Social (β = .13), Enhancement (β = .12) and, particularly, Coping motives (β = .48). Further, Coping fully linked the relationship between level of cannabis misuse and depressive, anxiety, PTSD, and somatic symptoms. Conclusion: These results lend support for a negative reinforcement motivational profile as the predominant pattern in adult cannabis users, especially with regard to concurrent symptoms of cannabis use disorder and psychopathology. These results suggest that targeting maladaptive coping with cannabis may prove an effective treatment target in addressing co-occurring cannabis misuse and psychopathology.

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Exploring the relationship between auditory hallucinations, trauma and dissociation

BJPsych Open ◽

10.1192/bjo.2020.31 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 6 (3) ◽

Author(s):

Deborah Wearne ◽

Guy J. Curtis ◽

Peter Melvill-Smith ◽

Kenneth G. Orr ◽

Annette Mackereth ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Rating Scales ◽

Subscale Score ◽

Auditory Hallucinations ◽

Ptsd Symptoms ◽

Post Traumatic Stress ◽

Trauma History ◽

Post Traumatic ◽

The Relationship ◽

Symptom Rating ◽

Trauma Histories

Background It is clinically imperative to better understand the relationship between trauma, auditory hallucinations and dissociation. The personal narrative of trauma has enormous significance for each individual and is also important for the clinician, who must use this information to decide on a diagnosis and treatment approach. Aims To better understand whether dissociation contributes in a significant way to hallucinations in individuals with and without trauma histories. Method Three groups of participants with auditory hallucinations were recruited, with diagnoses of: schizophrenia (without trauma) (n = 18), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD, n = 27) and comorbid schizophrenia and PTSD (SCZ+PTSD), n = 26). Clinician-administered measures included the PTSD Symptoms Scale Interview (PSSI-5), the Clinician-Administered Dissociative States Scale (CADSS) and the Psychotic Symptom Rating Scales (PSYRATS). Results Dissociative symptoms were significantly higher in participants with trauma histories (PTSD and SCZ+PTSD groups) and significantly correlated with hallucinations in trauma-exposed participants, but not in participants with schizophrenia (without trauma history). Hallucination severity was correlated with the CADSS amnesia subscale score, but depersonalisation and derealisation were not. Conclusions Dissociation may be a mechanism in trauma-exposed individuals who hear voices, but it does not explain all hallucinatory experiences. The SCZ+PTSD group were in an intermediary position between schizophrenia and PTSD on dissociative and hallucination measures. The PTSD and SCZ+PTSD groups experienced dissociative phenomena much more frequently than the schizophrenia group, with a significant trend towards the amnesia subtype of dissociation.

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