Adolescent marijuana use: the role of the physician

Adolescent marijuana use is an issue of concern to the community at large. Physicians now have the technology to identify marijuana use and thus are in a unique position to deal with the issue. This article addresses the moral issues related to screening and surveillance of adolescent marijuana use and postulates the justification for active physician intervention.     

Associations Between Mixed-Gender Friendships,Gender Reference Group Identity and Substance Use in College Students

We investigated the associations between same-gender friendship, gender reference group identity, and substance use in college students (54 % male, M age?=?19.23, SD?=?1.23) from the northeastern United States using an online survey. Male students reported greater weekly marijuana, but not alcohol use than female students. Regression analyses revealed that having a greater proportion of same-gender friendships was associated with greater weekly alcohol use for male students and lesser weekly alcohol and marijuana use for female students. Gender reference group identity was negatively associated with weekly marijuana use for male and female students. For female students, gender reference group identity mediated the association between proportion of same-gender friendships and weekly marijuana use. Our study highlights the importance of considering the social context (e.g., the gender of friends) and individual variables relating to gender (e.g. gender reference group identity) in substance use research. Our findings fit within social constructionist models of social development that suggest participation in gendered contexts (e.g., same-gender or other-gender-peer contexts) over time cue gender-typed behaviors such as using marijuana.     

Father absence and adolescent "problem behaviors": alcohol consumption, drug use and sexual activity

Among the issues faced by adolescents are problems relating to alcohol consumption, drug use, and sexual behavior. A survey of 813 adolescents found that adolescents are most likely to discuss these problems with peers and least likely to discuss them with parents, especially fathers. However, father absence from the home resulted in greater use of and problems with alcohol, marijuana, and sexual activity. This was the case especially for boys. The results obtained underscore the significance of the father as a key figure in the transmission of values and as a deterrent to certain behaviors. The results point to adolescents from fatherless homes, especially boys, as being at risk for problems in the areas noted. This suggests that community agencies providing services to adolescents should make special efforts to incorporate into their programs specially designed services to meet the particular needs of this group. Aspects of such programs are discussed.     

The effect of nondirective questioning on women's decisions whether to undergo bone density screening: an experimental study.

This study investigated the effects of nondirective counseling on health screening decisions. Ninety women (mean age = 51 years) received information about bone density screening and osteoporosis. They were then randomly allocated to 1 of 4 groups and were encouraged to focus on positive issues about bone density screening (positive group), on negative issues (negative group), on both positive and negative issues (all-focusing group), or on issues relating to the common cold (control group). Women were asked to rate how likely they would be to opt for bone density screening if they saw it available. After being informed that they could have bone density screening, actual uptake was assessed. It was found that the issues on which individuals focused significantly influenced their rate likelihood of opting for the scan. Rated likelihood of testing was significantly associated with whether individuals actually did opt for testing when it was subsequently offered to them.     

The Philosophy of State Compensation

Notwithstanding that there is now widespread interest in the rights of victims, little has been written about the theoretical justification of state compensation. Here we offer an initial exploration of the field in the hope that others might venture further and examine the points at which issues of compensation connect with other general and specific themes in social and political philosophy. For example, there has been much discussion about communitarian conceptions of civil society but the practical implications of such views, other than those relating to multiculturalism, have been largely ignored. The application of theory to social policy needs to take account of existing laws and institutions and these vary from one society and jurisdiction to another. In what follows we are principally concerned with the situation obtaining in the United Kingdom but the underlying issues are general ones [1].     

Screening,Brief Intervention,and Referral to Treatment for Military Spouses Experiencing Alcohol and Substance Use Disorders: A Literature Review

This paper provides an overview of alcohol and substance use issues in military spouses, and explore how the screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) model may enable health care providers to identify individuals at risk for developing substance use related disorders. The information presented is based on a broad literature scan relating to the characteristics of the military lifestyle, health infrastructure, screening and intervention processes, and the uses of SBIRT in military and civilian settings. Current literature suggests that military spouses, and families, tend to be at different points in their life course than civilian families of similar ages. Marrying earlier and having children sooner coupled with military lifestyle stressors place them at increased risk for developing adverse coping mechanisms, particularly during deployment. SBIRT has been recognized as an effective method among civilian patients although there is limited research on the efficacy of SBIRT for military spouses at risk of or experiencing substance use problems.     

Pain-related anxiety and marijuana use motives: a pilot test among active marijuana-using young adults

The present investigation examined pain-related anxiety in regard to marijuana use motives among a sample of young adult marijuana users (N = 180; 45% women; M(age) = 21.11 years, SD = 6.41). Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to determine the relations between pain-related anxiety and marijuana use motives. After controlling for current marijuana use frequency (past 30 days), daily cigarette smoking rate, current rate of alcohol consumption, level of bodily pain (current), and other marijuana use motives, pain-related anxiety was significantly and uniquely associated with coping and conformity motives for marijuana use. Pain-related anxiety was not significantly related to other marijuana use motives. These results offer novel empirical insight pertaining to a relation between pain-related anxiety and coping as well as conformity motives for marijuana use among active users.     

Adult social behavioral effects of heavy adolescent marijuana use among African Americans

The authors examined the effects of heavy adolescent marijuana use on employment, marriage, and family formation and tested both dropping out of high school and adult marijuana use as potential mediators of these associations among a community sample of African Americans followed longitudinally from age 6 to age 32-33. They used propensity score matching to reduce selection bias when estimating the effects of heavy adolescent marijuana use. Logistic regression results on the sample matched on sex, and early demographic and behavioral variables showed that adolescent marijuana use has adult social behavioral consequences: Use of marijuana 20 times or more during adolescence was associated with being unemployed and unmarried in young adulthood and having children outside of marriage for both males and females. Dropping out of high school and more frequent adult marijuana use seem to be important parts of the pathway from adolescent marijuana use to negative life outcomes.     

Pain-Related Anxiety and Marijuana Use Motives: A Pilot Test Among Active Marijuana-Using Young Adults

The present investigation examined pain-related anxiety in regard to marijuana use motives among a sample of young adult marijuana users (N = 180; 45% women; M _age = 21.11 years, SD = 6.41). Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to determine the relations between pain-related anxiety and marijuana use motives. After controlling for current marijuana use frequency (past 30 days), daily cigarette smoking rate, current rate of alcohol consumption, level of bodily pain (current), and other marijuana use motives, pain-related anxiety was significantly and uniquely associated with coping and conformity motives for marijuana use. Pain-related anxiety was not significantly related to other marijuana use motives. These results offer novel empirical insight pertaining to a relation between pain-related anxiety and coping as well as conformity motives for marijuana use among active users.     

Incremental Validity of Coping-oriented Marijuana Use Motives in the Prediction of Affect-based Psychological Vulnerability

The present investigation examined whether coping-oriented motives to use marijuana, as measured by the Marijuana Motives Measure (MMM; Simons et al. in J. Couns. Psychol. 45:265–273, 1998), were uniquely related to affect-based psychological vulnerability factors among marijuana users. Participants were 131 adult current marijuana users (72 women, M _age = 20.14, SD = 3.37 years). As hypothesized, after controlling for gender, cigarettes smoked per day, past 30-day marijuana use, total years of marijuana use, and alcohol consumption, coping motives were significantly and incrementally related to negative affect-based psychological vulnerability factors. No other marijuana use motives demonstrated a similar type of relationship to the dependent variables, providing a high degree of explanatory specificity. These data suggest that coping-oriented motives to use marijuana may be an important explanatory construct in better understanding marijuana and psychological vulnerability relations.     

Anxiety sensitivity interacts with marijuana use in the prediction of anxiety symptoms and panic-related catastrophic thinking among daily tobacco users

The present investigation evaluated whether anxiety sensitivity interacted with marijuana use in relation to the prediction of panic-relevant variables among young adult tobacco smokers (n=265). Approximately 73% of the sample was composed of current marijuana smokers, with 78.5% of this sub-sample using marijuana more than once per week. As expected, after covarying cigarettes per day, alcohol use, and negative affectivity, the interaction between marijuana use and anxiety sensitivity predicted anxiety symptoms and agoraphobic cognitions. Partially consistent with prediction, the interaction between frequency of marijuana use and anxiety sensitivity predicted only anxiety symptoms. These results are discussed in relation to better understanding the potential role of regular marijuana use and anxiety sensitivity for panic-relevant emotional vulnerability among regular tobacco smokers.     

Applied Computer Diagnostics — Theoretical Foundations and Future Perspectives

The paper reviews and discusses a number of issues relating to the use of computer technology to assist the process of assessing psychologically relevant variables — computer-assisted diagnostics. A definition of computer-assisted diagnostics is given and theoretical developments are discussed. The paper emphasizes the need to consider theoretical issues relating to a number of domains: theory of content, test theory, human—computer interaction, programming theory, instructional theory, normative theory and situation theory. The paper concludes with a view of the current situation and future perspectives, and describes some important ethical issues.     

Monitoring Matters: Meta-Analytic Review Reveals the Reliable Linkage of Parental Monitoring With Adolescent Marijuana Use

ABSTRACT— Parental monitoring is commonly accredited as an important protective factor against risky adolescent behaviors. In this meta-analytic review, associations of adolescents' perceptions of parental monitoring with adolescent marijuana use were collected and quantified across 25 independent samples from 17 empirical studies involving 35,367 unique participants. Applying a random-effects model, the average magnitude of effect was r =−.21. The association was significantly stronger in female-only samples ( r =−.31 vs. r =−.19, p < .001) and when parental monitoring was defined purely in terms of parental knowledge of the child's whereabouts, activities, and relations ( r =−.24 vs. r =−.19, p < .05). Cross-sectional ( r =−.23) and longitudinal studies ( r =−.10) disclosed significant effect sizes. To assess publication bias, a file-drawer analysis indicated that 7,358 studies of nil effect size would be necessary to render the association of parental monitoring and reduced marijuana usage nonsignificant. Theoretical and practical implications of parental monitoring are discussed, especially issues concerning the measurement of parental monitoring and the possible utility of the construct in curtailing marijuana use.     

Religiosity and adolescent marijuana use

Among adolescents, religiosity has been associated with lower rates of marijuana use, though few studies have examined its impact on the perceived risk of use. There is strong support that perceived risk of using marijuana is negatively correlated with the frequency of use. We examined the relationship among religiosity, perceived risk, and marijuana use from a national survey of adolescents that contained questions about lifetime, weekly, and past month substance use, social support, religious involvement and attitudes, and perceived riskiness of use. We tested a structural equation model of relationships among latent variables of religiosity and perceived risk, and an observed variable of total days of marijuana use in the past 12 months. Results indicated the model was a good fit to the data and described a mediating relationship of perceived risk of use between religiosity and marijuana use. Implications for leveraging religiosity in prevention of substance use are discussed.     

Risk and protective factors for marijuana use and problems with use in a national sample of female Ecuadorian secondary school students

This study investigated risk and protective factors for marijuana use and problems with use in Ecuadorian girls in an attempt to inform this growing problem. Female secondary school students (N = 16,310; M = 15.02, SD = 1.73 years) who completed the 2016 national survey of drug use participated. The likelihood of lifetime marijuana use, reported by 7.3% of the sample, was predicted by older age, greater perceived access to marijuana and affiliation with tobacco- and marijuana-using peers; aspects of parental monitoring and perceived physical safety in and around school were negatively related to the probability of use. Among girls reporting any marijuana use, age, frequency of past year use, ease of access and affiliation with marijuana-using peers was positively associated with marijuana use problems. These data support the roles of both parents and communities in reducing marijuana use among Ecuadorian girls and highlight the important role of peer influence.     

A review of the literature on marijuana and interpersonal violence

Marijuana use and interpersonal violence are major public health problems. The present review examines the available empirical and theoretical literature on the relationship between marijuana and violence, including past theoretical models, the link between marijuana use and interpersonal violence (including intimate partner violence), and the relationship between marijuana withdrawal and violence. While results from laboratory-based studies are inconclusive, results of cross-sectional and longitudinal research provide support for an association between marijuana use/withdrawal and various types of violence. Given the lack of empirical support for existing models, a new biopsychosocial model of the marijuana–violence relationship is proposed. Examining methods to test this model and application of current findings to treatment are discussed.     

The Effectiveness of Teaching a Life Skills Program in a Sport Context

This research examined the role of attraction to one's team in predicting alcohol and marijuana use among intercollegiate athletes. Attraction to team and alcohol-related information were collected via an online survey and marijuana use-related information was gathered in a live setting. We investigated the influence of attraction to one's team above and beyond the influence of gender and perceived norms, and attraction to team as a moderator of these relationships. Attraction to one's team accounted for significant variance in marijuana use, and alcohol-related consequences after controlling for alcohol consumption. Regression analyses revealed significant interactions between gender, attraction to team, and norms in predicting alcohol and marijuana use. Stronger attraction to one's team may increase alcohol use but decrease marijuana use among male athletes, suggesting the importance of attraction to team when developing interventions for athletes.     

Marijuana Use Among Daily Tobacco Smokers: Relationship to Anxiety-Related Factors

The present investigation evaluated the incremental validity of regular marijuana use and frequency of such use in relation to anxiety and depressive symptoms and perceived health among young adult tobacco smokers (n = 202). Approximately 72% of the sample were current marijuana smokers, using this drug on an average of 7.6 (SD = 9.2) times per week. As expected, after controlling for theoretically-relevant smoking (cigarettes per day), alcohol use, and affect factors (i.e., negative affectivity and anxiety sensitivity), marijuana use predicted anxiety symptoms and perceived general health, whereas frequency of marijuana use predicted only anxiety symptoms. These results are discussed in relation to better understanding the role of regular marijuana use in terms of anxiety-relevant emotional vulnerability and beliefs about physical health among regular smokers.