Sociocultural cannabis attitudes in relation to personality and cannabis use: A Bayesian network approach
Erin N. Prince, Janna Cousijn, Emese Kroon, Francesca M. FilbeyIntroduction
Risky cannabis use is shaped by a myriad of factors, including individual and environmental factors. Individual level factors such as personality traits have well documented links to increased risky cannabis use, but how they interact with cannabis context to influence cannabis use has not yet been examined. This study examined the influences of personality traits, cannabis attitudes, and cultural context on symptoms related to cannabis use disorder. Understanding this link is important because it can help explain why cannabis use patterns vary across people and settings in service of more precise prevention and intervention strategies.
Materials and Methods
Fifty-eight adults from the U.S. and 81 adults from the Netherlands completed the Cannabis Use Disorder Identification Test (CUDIT), NEO Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI), and Cannabis Culture Questionnaire (CCQ). Bayesian network analyses were conducted to estimate conditional dependencies and probabilistic relationships among risky cannabis use, personality traits, and cannabis attitudes.
Results
Personal and perceived peer positive cannabis attitudes formed a tightly interconnected cluster. Personality traits exhibited selective interconnections, with associations primarily occurring among personality domains rather than with cannabis attitudes or use severity. CUDIT scores had a direct negative association with conscientiousness. Legal context was the most highly connected node, linking cannabis use severity, positive cannabis attitudes, and multiple personality traits.
Discussion
These findings indicate that cannabis use severity is embedded within a broader network of individual factors that include personality and cannabis attitudes that may be shaped by contextual influences and provide support for culturally sensitive prevention and intervention efforts.